Economic minister says inflation may fall below 3% in October

MARRAKESH, Oct 10 (PRIME) – Russia's annual inflation will fall below 3% in October, which is bad because it is digression from the central bank’s 4% target, Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters on Tuesday.

“Our general inflation trends are very soft. I said in April that our inflation may amount to less than 3% in 2017 if the ruble stays at the levels we saw in April,” he said.

“The rate has not changed much. Our estimates show that inflation will fall below 3% in October, and digression from the central bank’s target will be noticeably more than 1%, which is not good.

“We see that the central bank reacts to that, it has cut the key rate in September, and generally tries to react to the situation with inflation dynamics correctly.”

The ministry expects Russia’s inflation to amount to 3.2% in 2017, while the central bank’s adjusted forecast sees it at 3.5–3.8%.

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