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RUSSIA'S ECONOMY

Lower ruble volatility benefits Russian business this year — ministry

The Economic Development Ministry does not rule out that in July-August inflation in Russia may slow down to 0%

MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. Lower ruble volatility should not create problems for the Russian business and volatility exerts higher influence on it than the absolute ruble rate, representative of the Ministry of Economic Development told TASS on Wednesday.

"Greater currency rate volatility is more critical for businesses than the low rate in itself, because it hinders preparation of both long-term or short-term business plans and strategies. The dollar/ruble rate dynamics should not be challenging this year in view of lower volatility," the representative said.

RUSSIA'S ECONOMY

The average ruble rate against the dollar is currently set as 67.2 rubles per dollar in the Ministry’s outlook, the official said. The new outlook will be prepared in September, he added.

Ruble volatility is gradually lowering from the beginning of 2016. The historical monthly volatility of dollar/ruble pair declined to 18.1% as of July 20.

The ministry does not rule out zero inflation soon

The Economic Development Ministry does not rule out that in July-August inflation in Russia may slow down to 0%.

"It is quite probable," the official said.

The ministry maintains its forecast on inflation in July at 7.2-7.4%.

On Wednesday, the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) published weekly inflation data. According to this report inflation in Russia in the period between July 12 and 18 was 0.1%, and since the beginning of July, consumer prices rose by 0.5%, since the beginning of the year - by 3.8%.

On the basis of the data by Rosstat, as of July 18, 2016, inflation in annual terms remained at the level up to 7.2

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