MOSCOW: Russian consumer price inflation is likely to fall to 6.8-6.7 percent by the end of the year, Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina said on Friday, a level that would represent the lowest year-end reading since the fall of the Soviet Union.
"Inflation will be 7 percent or possibly lower 6.7-6.8 percent," Nabiullina told reporters. Year-on-year inflation was 7.2 percent in October. Inflation ended 2010 at 8.8 percent.
A good harvest after last year's drought has helped contain year-on-year inflation, although there has been concern that a depreciation in the rouble in August and September could stoke price pressures.
Nabiullina said the government was standing by its forecast that the economy would grow by 4.1 percent in 2011, despite growing concern that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe could have a negative impact on economic activity.
"We are keeping our forecast at 4.1 percent," she said.
"We have no plans to change it, especially after the data readings for October. We saw that growth in gross domestic product, after adjusting for seasonal factors, had quite a positive tempo, and that allows us to stand by our forecast."
The economy grew by 4.8 percent, year-on-year, in the third quarter, according to a flash estimate by Russia's Federal Statistics Office released this week.
Industrial production grew in October by 3.6 percent, year-on-year, its slowest rate since the end of 2009, the stats office said on Wednesday. The published figures were not adjusted for seasonal or calendar effects.
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