Russia on course for '4%, perhaps slightly higher' 2021 inflation - Siluanov
MOSCOW. April 30 (Interfax) - Inflation in Russia could be slightly more than 4% in 2021, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.
"The dynamics of budget spending and the Central Bank's actions to normalize monetary policy [by increasing the rate to the lower level of the neutral rate band] - all of this will have its effect and we see inflation trending downwards. We expect inflation for the year to be 4%, perhaps slightly [a fraction of a percent] higher," he said during a lecture at the Financial University.
Annual inflation was back in the middle of the 5.5%-5.6% range at 5.55% before rounding as of April 26, according to State Statistics Service (Rosstat) figures, compared with 5.53% on April 19. Annual inflation was 5.8% at the end of March, the highest since November 2016.
The Economic Development Ministry has increased its 2021 inflation forecast to 4.3% from 3.7% due to accelerated price growth at the start of the year.
The Central Bank has put its official inflation forecast for 2021 up to 4.7-5.2% from 3.7-4.2%.