Russian econ ministry sees produce prices falling 15% in Aug-Sep

MOSCOW, Aug 9 (PRIME) – Russia’s fruit and vegetable prices may fall by about 15% in a few coming months pushing inflation slowing down by 0.6 percentage points in August–September, the Economic Development Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The potential for a price fall in fruit and vegetables over the coming months has not been exhausted and amounts to about 15% according to estimates of the ministry. It can make an about (minus) 0.6 percentage point contribution to accumulated inflation in August–September 2017,” the research note read.

“In July, inflation reached 3.9% year-on-year, falling below the target level of the Bank of Russia. A rapid fall happened due to contraction of prices for fruit and vegetables by 8.3% on the month in June after a new harvest, which compensated price growth in the previous months, while a fall of prices for fruit and vegetables amounted to 3.9% in the week from August 1 through August 7,” the ministry said.

In August, Russia may experience a 0.3–0.5% deflation while annual inflation will slow down to 3.3–3.6%.

The central bank expects zero inflation in Russia in August and a 4% inflation in 2017.

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