MOSCOW, April 3 (Itar-Tass) —— Russians may face a heavy inflationary pressure in the second half of the year, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia Alexei Ulyukayev told a news conference on Tuesday.
“In the middle of the year and in the second half of the year, we can face a strong inflationary burden, which may be linked with the fact that the low base effect possibilities will be used up and the second stage of the hike of the natural monopolies tariffs will be postponed,” Ulyukayev said.
In his words, Russia’s inflation reached 3.7 percent as of April 1, as compared to the same date of 2011. In his opinion, the country’s inflation may be between five and six percent by the end of the year. “This year, we hope that the inflation rate, which is calculated under the consumer price indicator, will be at the level of five to six percent,” Ulyukayev said, pointing to the fact that the country’s inflation is getting better from year to year and stood at 3.7 percent as of the beginning of April.
According to the State Statistics Service, Russia’s inflation amounted to 0.5 percent in the period from March 1 to March 26. The indicator has gone up by 1.3 percent since the beginning of the year.
In 2011, the country’s inflation rate was at 6.1 percent, which is the record low level from 1991.