Government may be finding it difficult to battle soaring inflation in the country, but

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a global survey has found two key Indian cities -- Mumbai and New Delhi -- to be amongst the five cheapest places to live.

In a Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, India's financial capital Mumbai has been ranked third cheapest place to live, while national capital New Delhi is fifth.

The annual survey, conducted by international research firm Economist Intelligence Unit, claims to rank as many as 134 major places across the world on the basis of costs of various items ranging from food to transport to toiletries.

In this year's ranking of costliest cities of the world, Mumbai has been placed at 131st position, up a place from 132nd a year ago, while New Delhi has remained at 129th.

The only two places found to be cheaper than Mumbai are Tunis in Tunisia and Karachi in Pakistan. Tehran in Iran has been ranked as cheaper than New Delhi at 130th position.

Japan's Tokyo has been ranked as the costliest place in the world, followed by Oslo (Norway), Japan's Osaka Kobe, Paris (France) and Zurich (Switzerland) in the top five.

Others in the top-ten include Sydney, Melbourne, Frankfurt, Geneva and Singapore.

The Indian cities' ranking among five cheapest has come as a surprise, as soaring prices have been a matter of grave concern for common man as also policymakers in the country.

Only yesterday, the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said there was inflationary pressure in the economy, although inflation in the food segment has declined marginally.

He also said that the overall inflation figure for the month of June could see some upward movement, from 9.06 per cent recorded in May.