Russia's inflation hits 6% as of April 20

MOSCOW. April 22. KAZINFORM Consumer prices in Russia grew 6% from January 1 to April 20, matching last year's figure for the same period, the national statistics body Rosstat said on Wednesday, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

photo: QAZINFORM
The government expects inflation to stay below 13% in 2009, compared to last year's figure of 13.3%. Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said earlier in the day that the 7.4% budget deficit projected in the 2009 adjusted budget would not allow inflation to rise above 13-14% this year. Russia posted a budget deficit of 50 billion rubles ($1.5 billion), or 0.1% of gross domestic product, in the first quarter, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.