Slowdown in inflation in Russia this year is absolutely stable trend - minister

MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) - The task of reducing inflation in Russia has largely been solved, and its slowdown this year is an absolutely stable trend, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said at the Serbian-Russian business forum in Belgrade on Thursday.

"Despite the challenges and attempts to exclude the Russian Federation from global processes, our economy remains stable, open and competitive, and retains its market-based character. Yes, last year Russia's GDP growth rate was 1% - these are deliberate steps; this is the price, first and foremost, for reducing inflation, and this goal has largely been achieved," Reshetnikov said.

Over a three-year period (2023-2025), the economy has grown more than 10% in real terms, and the main driver is domestic demand - both consumer and investment, he said.

"At the end of last year, inflation was 5.6%, and as we see from the dynamics for this year, this [the slowdown in inflation] is an absolutely stable trend," he said.

"At the same time, unemployment remains at a low level [2.1% in February 2026]. In this regard, we see that we have a strong foundation for further development," he said.

Rosstat said on Wednesday that inflation in Russia for the week April 14 to 20 was 0.01%, compared with 0.00% for April 7-13, 0.19% for March 31-April 6, 0.17% for March 24-30 and 0.19% for March 17-23. Prices rose 0.18% in the first 20 days of April and 3.16% since the beginning of the year.

It follows from data for the first 20 days of April this year and last that annual inflation in Russia had fallen to 5.68% as of April 20 from 5.77% on April 13 and 5.86% at the end of March by weekly dynamics - the Central Bank advocates this method to measure inflation. It fell to 5.77% on April 20 from 5.86% on April 13 going by average daily figures for the whole of April 2025 - the Economic Development Ministry calculates annual inflation this way.

The Central Bank of Russia in March kept its 2026 inflation forecast at 4.5%-5.5% and said it expected inflation to return to the 4% target in 2027.