Russian weekly inflation slows as cenbank board meeting looms

The central bank has said it may cut its key interest rate from 17% at the upcoming board meetings and will try not to lower inflation, which it targets at 4% in annual terms, by any means. Weekly inflation in Russia slowed to 0.20% in the week to April 15 from 0.66% a week earlier, taking the year-to-date increase in consumer prices to 11.05%, Rosstat said.

Weekly inflation in Russia slowed after a big rise in the past few weeks, data from statistics service Rosstat showed on Wednesday, giving the central bank reason to consider cutting rates at its board meeting on April 29. The central bank has said it may cut its key interest rate from 17% at the upcoming board meetings and will try not to lower inflation, which it targets at 4% in annual terms, by any means.

Weekly inflation in Russia slowed to 0.20% in the week to April 15 from 0.66% a week earlier, taking the year-to-date increase in consumer prices to 11.05%, Rosstat said. In the same period a year ago, consumer prices rose 2.72%.

In annual terms, inflation has already reached its highest since February 2002 of 17.49%, as the volatile rouble spurred prices amid Western sanctions following the beginning of what Moscow calls "a special military operation in Ukraine" on Feb. 24. Inflation could reach between 17% and 20% this year, Alexei Kudrin, the head of Russia's audit chamber, said last week. Analysts polled by Reuters in late March had on average forecast 2022 inflation to accelerate to 23.7%, its highest since 1999.