Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday there was no overheating in the economy.

"Overheating is premature," Chidambaram told reporters on the sidelines of a United Bank of India [Get Quote] programme in Kolkata.

The annual inflation rose to 5.45 per cent for the week ended November 18 from 5.29 per cent in the previous week mainly due to costlier minerals and manufactured items.

The wholesale price-based inflation was at 4.27 per cent during the corresponding week last year.

Chidambaram had earlier said inflation remained an area of concern and the government wished to bring it down to below five per cent.

On the issue of bank lending to the real estate sector, the finance minister said it had advised banks to re-balance their portfolios by reducing exposure toward real estate and push more credit toward the production sector.

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