Russia’s inflation rate continues growing – statistics

Russia’s inflation has reached 5.4 percent by August 30 since the beginning of the year, the Prime Tass economic news agency said on Wednesday, quoting an official report of the Federal State Statistics Service.

The Statistics Service reported 0.1-percent inflation rate in the week from August 24 to August 30, Prime Tass said, adding that the country’s retail prices have grown by 0.6 percent since the beginning of the month (from August 1 to 30).

Proceeding from the report, Russia’s daily inflation has made up 0.020 percent in the reporting period of August, the economic news agency said.

In the week from August 24 to August 30, it was reported the biggest growth of average retail prices for eggs and buckwheat and reached 8.3 percent and 5.1 percent respectively, Prime Tass said.

In the period under review, prices of wheat flour, millet, and granulated sugar went up by 1.6-2.5 percent on average across the country, the economic news agency said, adding that prices of sunflower oil increased by 0.9 percent.

Touching upon dairy products, the Statistics Service reported 0.8-1.2-percent growth of prices for sour cream, milk, cottage cheese and butter, Prime Tass said.

In the reporting period, average prices of fruit and vegetable decreased by 0.3 percent across the country, the economic news agency said, adding that prices of onions dropped by 3.2 percent, prices of carrots went down by 1.2 percent, and prices of cabbages decreased by 0.5 percent.

At the same time, prices of potato increased by 0.4 percent and prices of apples went up by 0.3 percent and in the week under review, Prime Tass said.

In the period from August 24 to August 30, prices of gasoline increased by 0.1 percent, while prices of diesel fuel remained unchanged as against the previous week, Prime Tass quoted the statistics.

The report was drafted on the basis of weekly monitoring of retail prices for 61 socially important goods and services, which the Federal State Statistics Service carries out in 266 Russian cities and towns.

According to the Federal Statistics Service, Russia’s inflation rate increased by 8.8 percent in 2009, Prime Tass reaffirmed, adding that the government’s official forecasts, the country’s inflation is expected to amount to 6.5-7.5 percent in 2010.

itar-tass