Tanks will not feed the nation: rapidly rising food prices are recorded in Russia | Business

According to Rosstat, the Russian statistics agency, in the last week (August 20-26), butter and sunflower oil, milk, sausages, pork and black bread rose in price by 0.5-1%. Only vegetables and fruits became cheaper (-1 .3 percent), which “should” be so due to the season, but in annual terms, the food price index stabilized at plus 10 percent, when it was 9.85 percent last week.

According to Rosstat, at the end of July, the annual price growth of bread and milk was the highest since 2023. January and February – 11.2 percent, respectively. and 10.7 percent. Since the beginning of August, their price has increased by another 1.2 percent. and 1.3 percent, moscowtimes.ru.

The trend, described a week ago by Dmitry Belousov, Deputy Director General of the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasts (CMASF), continues. The situation in the market of grain products is difficult – price growth is not very intense, but the price of black and white bread, flour, pasta is almost constantly increasing.

Accelerating food inflation primarily affects low-income people, who spend a large portion of their spending on food.

It is not only food products that are becoming more expensive. Despite the export ban, gasoline prices continue to rise faster than inflation, but with a slight tendency to slow down. The price growth of construction materials is constantly increasing, he writes moscowtimes.ru.

However, the Central Bank is determined to win the fight against inflation. “Inflation control is not an opportunistic task. If you prefer it that way, this is our mission,” Elvira Nabiullina, chairwoman of the Central Bank, was quoted as saying.

“Will it (the deflation mechanism) work now?” I will say this: our ship has indeed sailed into very stormy and unfamiliar waters, but the ocean is still the ocean. The steering wheel is in our hands, and we must firmly pave the way to the goal. Yes, the period of disinflation, which in good times takes a year and a half, will now take longer. However, we will definitely achieve the goal”, said the head of the Bank of Russia metaphorically.