MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia expects to reach the inflation target of 4% in the first half of 2026, the regulator's Governor Elvira Nabiullina said at a press conference.

"We believe that <…> we will reach the target [of 4%] in the first half of 2026," she said.

Earlier, the Bank of Russia raised its inflation forecast for 2024 to 8-8.5% from 6.5-7% in the July forecast. The regulator expects annual inflation to fall to 4.5-5% in 2025 to 4% in 2026 and to remain on target thereafter. Nabiullina noted that raising the inflation forecast for 2024 does not mean that the key rate is not working. Without the increase, inflation would have been even higher.

Annual inflation was estimated at 8.4% on October 21 and is expected to be in the range of 8-8.5% by the end of 2024. In September, seasonally adjusted annual inflation rose to 9.8% from 7.5% in August. A similar core inflation figure rose to 9.1% from 7.7% in August.