Reshetnikov: annual inflation in Russia slowed to 2.6% in April

In April, annual inflation in Russia amounted to 2.6%. This was announced by the Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov during a working meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Of the developed countries, we have, in general, [годовая инфляция] now in March at one of the lowest levels – 3.5%, and in April the data is now generally 2.6%, – said He.

Reshetnikov drew attention to the fact that high inflation in Western countries is associated with an increase in borrowing during the covid period and an increase in public debt. According to the minister, the challenges faced by other countries “in one way or another affect us.” At the same time, Reshetnikov continued, Russia is “in a different situation”, since the level of the country’s public debt is “many times lower.”

Putin responded by saying that he occasionally watches European and American news programs, which, he said, “ghost the issue completely under wraps.” The President also positively assessed the level of the state debt of the Russian Federation. “Government debt from GDP [страны] we have 14.9%. A good indicator,” he said.

Reshetnikov added that “a powerful backlog to reduce inflation” was created back in 2022. In particular, this is affected by the lack of tariff indexation, a good harvest and flexible export duties, which “prevent the transfer of global inflation to us,” the minister explained.

In March, inflation in Russia amounted to 3.5%. The decline in Russia’s GDP in March slowed to 1.1% in annual terms from 2.9% in February, reported earlier in the Ministry of Economic Development. According to the results of the first quarter of 2023, the country’s GDP decreased by 2.2%.

Last week the Bank of Russia improved forecast for inflation and the rate of recovery of the Russian economy in 2023. The regulator now expects GDP growth of 0.5-2%, although back in February it predicted a decline. According to the Central Bank, inflation in 2023 will be 4.5-6.5%, in February it was expected at the level of 5-7%.