One-off factors currently pressuring inflation in Russia, Econ Ministry to update outlook in July-Aug - minister

ST. PETERSBURG. June 5 (Interfax) - One-off factors are currently pressuring the dynamics of inflation in Russia; it is necessary to approach this calmly and analyze core inflation; and the Economic Development Ministry plans to update its forecast in July-August, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov told journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2024.

"We currently have one-off factors. We had indexation of public transportation in many regions in May and June, and we have indexation of housing and communal services in July, which was not the case last year. Therefore, we need to approach this calmly, calculate core inflation, which excludes all these factors, and then we could talk about the forecast for the year based on this," Reshetnikov said in response to whether the ministry was maintaining its inflation forecast of 5.1% for 2024.

"We plan in July-August to recalculate the forecast that we have [in line with the schedule]," Reshetnikov said.

The Economic Development Ministry at the end of April raised its inflation forecast to 5.1% for 2024 from 4.5% in the September version.

The consensus forecast among economists surveyed in early May by Interfax projects inflation of 5.3% in 2024. The consensus forecast among analysts surveyed in late May by the Central Bank of Russia rose to projected inflation of 5.5% in 2024 from 5.2% in mid-April.

The Central Bank's forecast from April projects inflation of 4.3%-4.8% in 2024.