Russia recorded an extended period of falling prices last summer as surging export revenues and a collapse in imports pushed the current account to a record high. That means the base effect delivering low annual inflation at the moment could go into reverse in the coming months and the central bank has said annual inflation will start to climb again in May and June. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.38% in April, Rosstat said, comparable to the 0.37% increase in March. Food prices rose 0.29% during the month, up from 0.13% in March, while services inflation slowed from 0.97% to 0.79%. Separate Rosstat data on Friday showed prices were unchanged between May 3 and May 10, down from an increase of 0.19% in the previous week. The economy ministry on Friday said inflation was running at 2.32% on an annual basis as of May 10. (Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya and Jake Cordell; Editing by Alison Williams)
(Adds economy ministry data in final paragraph)
May 12 (Reuters) - Russia's annual inflation rate dipped
further below the central bank's 4% target in April due to the
base effect of surging prices this time last year, data from the
state statistics service published on Friday showed.
Inflation soared to almost 20% soon after Russia invaded
Ukraine in February 2022, as the value of the rouble and imports
into Russia plunged amid the fallout of the military campaign
and imposition of Western sanctions.
In April, official inflation dipped to 2.31% on an annual
basis down from 3.51% in March and more than 10% earlier this
year, Rosstat said on Friday.
Despite the falling headline figures, Russia's central bank
has repeatedly warned of inflationary pressures across the
economy and has maintained a hawkish rhetoric even as it has
held interest rates at 7.5% in recent meetings.
It has pointed to a widening budget deficit - which came in
at $44 billion in the first four months of the year - as
potentially pushing up prices across the economy.
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