PM says Russia's annual inflation not to exceed 5%

MOSCOW, Jul 5 (PRIME) -- Russia's annual inflation will not exceed 5%, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

"Concerning inflation, you know the figures very well, it stood at 3.4% as of the beginning of June. Annually… experts say it will not exceed 5%. We'll see," Mishustin said.

According to the prime minister, the government is monitoring the prices closely.

The gross domestic product (GDP) can increase by more than 2% in 2023 driven by the processing industry, he said.

Mishustin said that real salaries rose by 4.2% in January–April and by 10.4% on the year in April. Nominal salaries grew by 11.4% in January–April. Unemployment stood at 3.1–3.2% as of the beginning of July, he said. The government is holding meetings to set a system of labor retraining. Combined retail sales grew by 8.8% in May as compared with the same period of 2021, he said.

The economy in general is getting healthier, and people’s welfare is increasing, Mishustin said.

"All this shows that there is improvement. That people are starting to get more income. This is, in fact, what you ordered to do, this is the base, people's income rise," Mishustin said.

Putin said that Russia's economic figures were better than expected, and hoped that all tasks would be fulfilled.

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