The Central Bank expects a further slowdown in inflation in Russia

Annual inflation in Russia will continue to decline and may fall below 4% in the spring due to the high base effect, should from the materials of the Bank of Russia.

“According to the forecast of the Bank of Russia, annual inflation will continue to decline and in the spring of 2023 it may briefly fall below 4% due to the base effect. Taking into account the ongoing monetary policy, annual inflation will be 5-7% in 2023, and will return to 4% in 2024,” the regulator’s materials say.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier stressed that inflation in 2022 was less than 12%. “There are, in simple terms, their ambushes. If we completely lower inflation, then there may be certain failures in the economy. The Central Bank proceeds from the fact that it will be somewhere in the region of 5-7%,” the head of state said.

The Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov earlier said that by the end of 2022, inflation in Russia amounted to 11.9%. He clarified that this indicator was achieved due to the stabilization of prices in the agricultural sector, high yields and the development of distribution channels. The Ministry of Economic Development also expects that in the first quarter of 2023, inflation in the country will “substantially decrease year on year”, already in the second quarter, the agency predicts inflation below the target level of 4%.