Russia had 0.09% inflation in week Feb 27-March 4, annual figure rose above 7.6%

MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - Russia had 0.09% consumer price inflation for the week February 27-March 4, the State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said.

Inflation was 0.13% for the week February 20-26, 0.11% for February 13-19, 0.21% for February 6-12 and 0.16% for January 30-February 5.

Prices grew 0.05% in the first four days of March and 1.51% since the start of the year.

It follows from data for the last few days of February and first few days of March this year and last that annual inflation in Russia rose above 7.6% and was roughly midway between 7.6% and 7.7% as of March 4, up from 7.57% on February 26, 7.44% at the end of January and 7.42% at the end of December, based on weekly prices - the Central Bank advocates this methodology.

Annual inflation rose to 7.59% on March 4 from 7.58% on February 26 based on average daily data for the whole of February 2023 - the Russian Economic Development Ministry calculates annual inflation this way.

Rosstat will give exact annual inflation data for the end February on March 13.

Fruit and vegetables averaged down 0.5% in price in the past week, compared with 0.6% growth the week before that, falling for cucumbers - 5.2% and potatoes - 0.3%, but rising for cabbage - 2.3%, tomatoes - 1.9%, beetroot - 1.3%, carrots - 1.2%, apples - 0.5% and onions and bananas - 0.4%.

Prices rose for mutton - 0.8%, granulated sugar - 0.7%, sausages and frankfurters - 0.6%, black tea - 0.5% and margarine, pasteurized milk and rice - 0.4%.

They fell for chicken eggs - 0.7% and sunflower oil and buckwheat - 0.2%.

Prices rose for televisions - 0.5% but fell for smartphones - 0.7%.

Gasoline and diesel were practically unchanged in price.

Economy class air fares fell 0.8% in the past week compared with 3.2% growth the previous week.