Inflation in Russia fell below 4% in March for the first time since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine led Western governments to impose sweeping sanctions on the country, the agency said on Wednesday. National Statistics Rosstat.
Inflation in March was 3.51% year-on-year, down sharply from 10.99% in February.
The sharp drop, however, does not reflect an actual drop in prices in Russia after inflation in March last year soared following sanctions.
Inflation in March 2022 was significantly higher than in February last year, so the year-on-year comparison shows a sharp decline.
Prices soared in the second quarter of 2022 in the weeks following the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In April 2022, inflation jumped to 17.8%, its highest level in two decades.
The head of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiulina, predicted in mid-February that inflation in Russia should be “between 5 and 7%” by the end of the year.
But despite lower inflation, the Central Bank is unlikely to change its key rate of 7.%, according to Dmitry Polevoy, chief investment officer at Locko Invest in Moscow.