Page 34 - bne IntelliNews monthly country report Russia February 2024

interest rate hike by the central bank next week, taking the policy rate to 16.00%.
The outturn was up from 6.7% y/y in October and in line with our expectation, although a touch softer than the consensus (7.6% y/y). In month-on-month terms, consumer prices increased by 1.1%. This was the strongest monthly increase since April last year amid the sanctions and ruble shock.
The breakdown showed that increases in food, goods and services inflation all drove the headline rate higher. Food inflation rose from 6.0% y/y to 7.2% and non-food goods inflation increased from 5.1% y/y to 5.6%. Services inflation jumped from 9.9% y/y to 10.4%. Rosstat’s measure of core inflation, which includes some food items, came in at 6.4% y/y.
Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said on the sidelines of the "Russia Calling!" forum on December 8 that the ministry maintained its inflation forecast at the end of 2023 at 7.5%.
The Bank of Russia projects inflation at the range of 7-7.5% as of the end of 2023. Russia’s Finance Ministry projects inflation at 4.5% in 2024, Minister Anton Siluanov said at the same event
34 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com