Russia could experience inflation of 8% or slightly lower in 2024 - Deputy PM Novak

SOCHI. Nov 6 (Interfax) - Russia should experience inflation of 8% or slightly lower in 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the 21st meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

Novak thereby acknowledged that inflation would exceed the government's official forecast of 7.3% in 2024.

"Inflation is currently decelerating. We saw the inflation rate at 8.5% [in annual terms] at the end of October. We also expect a decrease to 8% by the end of this year, and perhaps slightly lower than 8%," Novak said regarding the government's latest estimates.

"We will see how the situation develops in the next two months of November-December, specifically accounting for the tight monetary policy of the Central Bank of Russia, as well as the slowdown in consumer and commercial lending," Novak said.

As reported, the Central Bank on October 25 raised the inflation forecast to 8.0%-8.5% in 2024 from 6.5%-7.0% previously and to 4.5%-5.0% in 2025 from 4.0%-4.5% previously.

The government's official inflation outlook is 7.3% in 2024, for which the government accounts when calculating the budget for 2025. The government in any case indexes social payments according to actual inflation rather than forecast inflation.