Statistics: Russian inflation accelerates to 0.5% in July

MOSCOW, Aug 4 (PRIME) -- Russia’s consumer price inflation accelerated to 0.5% in July from 0.4% in April, May and June, the Federal State Statistics Service said in a statement on Thursday.

Food price inflation slowed to 0% in July from 0.1% month-on-month in June, but rose to 6.5% from 6.2% year-on-year in the period. Prices for non-foods increased 0.4% in July against a 0.5% rise in June.

Prices for vegetables decreased 11.2% in July. Tomato prices fell 27.6%, cucumber prices went down 23.4%, and beet prices went down 12.3%. Fruit prices decreased 0.9%. Banana prices fell 3.5%, grapes prices decreased 3.3%, prices for oranges fell 1.2%, and pear prices went down 1%.

White cabbage prices rose 8.6%, prices for lemons increased 3.1% and apple prices grew 0.4%.

Beef liver prices fell 0.6%, mutton price decreased 0.3%, pork prices fell 0.2% and cheese prices also went down 0.2%.

Buckwheat prices rose 3.3% and prices for peas and beans increased 1.8%. Millet prices fell 0.8% and polished price prices went down 0.5%.

Prices for cooled and frozen chicken, olive oil, chocolate, ketchup, ice cream, fruit juices, soda water, sparkling wine and domestic beer rose by 0.8-1.5% in July.

On Wednesday, the Economic Development Ministry confirmed its preliminary estimate of Russia’s inflation in July – 0.5-0.7% month-on-month and 7.2-7.4% year-on-year.

The Federal State Statistics Service said that Russian consumer prices fell 0.1% from July 26 through Monday, the country’s first deflation in five years. The service attributed deflation to fruit and vegetables, which became 3% cheaper on average in the reporting week.

The central bank expects that Russia’s inflation will slow down to 5-6% by the end of 2016.

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