Cbank sees Russia’s annual inflation close to 2.5% in Jan–Mar

MOSCOW, Jan 19 (PRIME) -- Russia’s inflation will be close to the December 2017 level of 2.5% in annual terms in January–March 2018, the central bank said in a research note on Friday.

“Annual inflation stabilized at the level of 2.5% in December 2017. Taking into account the current trends, annual inflation will remain close to the level of December 2017 in the first quarter of 2018,” the research note read.

Later several factors will support the return of inflation to the target level of 4%.

“We expect adjustments in prices for fruit and vegetables in line with depletion of reserves of the high harvest. Besides, the growth of producer prices may somewhat speed up following higher world prices for oil. Further restoration of consumer activity will create conditions allowing inflation to get close to 4% in 2018,” the regulator said.

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