Official sees Russia’s weekly inflation at 0.1% until end of 2015

MOSCOW, Nov 6 (PRIME) – Russia may avoid an inflation spike in December, while its weekly inflation may very well amount to 0.1% until the end of the year, Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexei Vedev told reporters Friday.

“As final demand is falling, this is not a fact that we will have a December spike. We’ve carried out a research on developed countries, and it is clear that deflation can be observed due to the New-Year sales. So we will not change inflation right now,” he said.

“The problem is that we have a contraction of real disposable incomes for the first time in 17 years, a contraction of wages. I cannot surely say that inflation will speed up in December,” he said, adding that inflation will most likely decrease until the end of the year and amount closer to 0.1% than to 0.2%.

Earlier on Friday, a spokesperson for the ministry said the Economic Development Ministry’s forecast for Russia’s consumer price index (CPI) of 12.2% for 2015 is now at the lower limit of a forecast range, while the upper bracket has not been set yet. The Finance Ministry sees Russia’s inflation in the year at 12.4%.

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