Statistics: Russia’s annual inflation accelerates to 3.1% in April

MOSCOW, May 8 (PRIME) -- Russia’s annual inflation accelerated to 3.1% in April from 2.5% in March and amounted to 0.8% in April after 0.6% in March, the Federal State Statistics Service said late on Thursday.

Food price inflation sped up to 1.7% in April from 0.96% in March and to 3.5% in annual terms from 2.2%. In monthly terms, food price inflation was the highest since April 2008.

Without prices for vegetables and fruit, food prices grew by 0.9% on the month in April, and prices for fruit and vegetables alone grew by 7.9%. Nonfood goods became 0.4% more expensive in April, and their prices grew by 2.8% in annual terms last month.

The Agriculture Ministry said in a statement that prices for fruit and vegetables grew in April due to depletion of stocks of the 2019 harvest and higher costs of imports due to the ruble devaluation.

Traditional seasonal factors pushed potato prices of agricultural companies 16.7% hihger in April, carrot prices 12.8%, cabbage prices 10.9%, apples 4.7%, and onion 1.7%, but April prices for carrots, onions, and cabbages were lower by 10%, 10.9%, and 30.4% as compared with April 2019, the ministry said.

Zeroing import duties and banning exports of agricultural products until the end of the current season by the Eurasian Economic Commission will support prices in the future, the authority said.

The Agriculture Ministry also quoted Mikhail Glushkov, head of the national union of fruit and vegetable producers, as saying that prices for lemons and garlic, which jumped by 22% and 61% on the year in April, respectively, grew due to a significant increase in consumption.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service also said citing its daily monitoring efforts that prices for fruit and vegetables grew mainly due to the seasonal factors and ruble devaluation.

The service also expects prices for lemons, which grew significantly over the past months due to lower imports and their higher costs, to fall in the first half of May.

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