Russia’s annual inflation may fall to 7.2–7.3% in July

MOSCOW, Jul 5 (PRIME) -- Russia’s annual inflation may fall to 7.2–7.3% in July from 7.5% in June, an official of the Economic Development Ministry told PRIME on Tuesday.

“A preliminary estimate for July is 7.2–7.3% on the year. The estimate will be adjusted after we have received data on dynamics of prices for goods and services in June,” the official said, adding that inflation is likely to slow down further in August.

Although annual inflation increased in June, the central bank may cut the key rate, the official said.

According to the Federal State Statistics Service earlier on Tuesday, Russia’s annual inflation sped up to 7.5% in June from 7.3% in May.

The central bank reduced the key rate to 10.5% from 11% on June 10. Governor Elvira Nabiullina said then that the optimal inflation–key rate gap is 2.5–3 percentage points but the bank has to keep it wider due to strong inflationary expectations.

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