Inflation in Russia returns to 0% week of Aug 16-22 - Rosstat
MOSCOW. Aug 24 (Interfax) - Consumer prices spent the week of August 16-22 without change, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) reported on Wednesday.
The previous week of August 9-15 saw deflation of 0.1%, prices were flat August 2-8, and there was 0.1% deflation from July 26 to August 1 - the first deflation in two years. The three weeks prior to that saw zero inflation.
Consumer prices rose 0.1% from August 1 to August 22, and from the start of the year to that date - 4.9%. There was 0.6% inflation August 1-22, 2010, and 5.4% inflation from the start of the year.
The level of annual inflation had by August 22 decreased to 8.4% from 9% at the beginning of the month.
The 0% inflation was due to seasonal price decreases for fruit and vegetable products, which averaged down 5.6% over the week (4.4% the previous week, including a drop of 11.4% for potatoes, 6.6% for head cabbage, and 7.1% for carrots.
Last week saw prices for groats down 1.6%, for millet 1.4%, for granulated sugar 1.0%, and for frozen fish 0.4%.
On the other hand, egg prices were up 5.8%, lamb prices 1.8%, beef prices 0.5%, and pork, sausage, hotdog, tinned meat, margarine, biscuit, regular-quality vodka, and dry dairy blends for infants prices 0.2%-0.3%.
Automobile gasoline prices increased 0.2%, but those for diesel fuel were flat.
The Economic Development Ministry expects zero inflation for August and maybe September, and 2011 inflation of 6.5%-7.5%. The Central Bank is looking to keep it within 7%. An Interfax survey of analysts done at end-July produced a consensus forecast of 8.1% inflation for this year.