``Post June, there is a favorable base effect on inflation; it was in June last year that inflation had hit a bottom. We had a headline inflation of 10.16% for May and June also would be on the higher side. Due to this, a rate hike in the policy review scheduled for July 27 looks like a certainty. There is a view in some sections of the market that there may be a rate hike even before 27 July; but the direction is clear - rates have to be normalized over a period of time,`` he added.
Rate hike in policy review looks like certainty: