MOSCOW, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - Inflation in Russia totaled 7.2% as of September 18, the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank said Wednesday, citing the national statistics service.
"According to the figures provided by Rosstat (the Federal Statistics Service) September 18, aggregate inflation in [the first] eight and a half months of 2006 stood at 7.2%," Alexei Ulyukayev said.
He said the figure represented a year-on-year drop of 1.2 percentage points.
The statistics service forecasts inflation for September at 0.2%, Ulyukayev said.
Inflation in the first 18 days of September was 0.1%, he said.
Ulyukayev said last week the bank forecast inflation at 8.5% this year, but could make minor adjustments to its forecast depending on inflation figures for September.
In 2005, inflation in Russia stood at 10.9%, according to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
The ministry has set a ceiling for 2006 inflation at 9%, then down to 6.5%-8% in 2007, 4.5-6% in 2008 and 4-5.5% in 2009.
