Inflation in Russia could exceed 8% in 2014 - Finance Ministry official
WASHINGTON. Oct 11 (Interfax) - Inflation in Russia could exceed 8% in 2014, says Russian Finance Ministry long-term strategic planning department head Maxim Oreshkin.
"I do not rule out that this scenario is possible," Oreshkin told journalists when asked whether the 2014 inflation could be higher than 8%.
Inflation in Russia should pass its peaks at the beginning of 2015, Oreshkin said. The Finance Ministry expected earlier that the peaks would be passed in June or July 2014. "We did say that, and it's clear why we erred. First of all, this can be explained by the underestimation of the dynamics of the food prices that has taken place. Another factor that would add something to inflation is the second wave of the ruble's weakening, which we also didn't expect in the middle of the year in the basic scenario," he said.
Russian Central Bank Chair Elvira Nabiullina had said last week that inflation "will be around 8%" in 2014. The latest target inflationary forecast from the Economic Development Ministry is 7.5%. Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said in mid-September that there were risks that inflation could reach 8% for the year and "high enough risks" that the target forecast of 5.5% would be exceeded in 2015.
The Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said on Wednesday that weekly inflation in Russia was 0.2% for the period from September 30 to October 6. Consumer prices rose 0.2% the previous week, 0.1% from September 9 to 15 and 0.2% from September 2 to 8. Based on Rosstat's information, year-on-year inflation could have risen above the Central Bank's key lending rate of 8% to 8.1% as of October 6, accelerating from 8% at the end of September and from 7.6% at the end of August.
