Weekly inflation in Russia accelerated after two quiet weeks

Inflation in Russia for the week by December 20 accelerated to 0.32%, reported . Rosstat

Two weeks before, inflation had stayed below 0.1% - 0.07% and 0.06%. Inflation in annual terms rose to 8.22%, food - up to 10.48%, writes the Ministry of Economic Development.

Last week, food again made a big contribution to the price increase (0.54%), and among them fruits and vegetables, but for them the growth of almost 1.5% corresponds to the seasonal norm, the ministry notes. Pork, buckwheat, eggs, cabbage and fresh cucumbers rose most noticeably.

The sharp rise in overall inflation, however, was caused by "the normalization of price dynamics in the segment of regulated and tourist services", which had become abnormally cheaper in previous weeks, the Ministry of Economic Development writes.

• Last week, the Central Bank raised the key rate by 1 percentage point at once. to 8.5%, but left the inflation forecast for 2021 unchanged.
• Central Bank Chairman Elvira Nabiullina admitted that price growth is beginning to slow down - annual inflation in December will be lower than in November, and its steady slowdown may begin in early 2022, she said at a briefing after the decision on the rate.
• In November, annual inflation reached 8.4%, by December 20 - 7.98%. If prices do not rise at an abnormal pace in the last week of the year, the November figure really has a chance to remain at the peak.
• Today, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that inflation in Russia is mainly imported, and this is the price for the openness of the economy. One of the import channels, he said, is “issuance [by other countries], which quite unexpectedly can stimulate consumer demand and come unexpectedly into the country.”