The head of Russia's top lender Sberbank, German Gref, said Monday he expects the 2011 inflation at 9% or higher.
"We do not expect inflation to exceed 10% but it is highly likely that it will be above the 9% mark," Gref told the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
He said he does not see any chance for the 2011 inflation to get lower than this year's figure of approximately 8.5%. The Statistics Service said in mid-December that since the year start, inflation hit the 8.1% mark.
The government and Central Bank predict that next year's inflation will be 6.5%.
Gref said GDP will grow by over 4% in 2011.
Last week Gref said Russian banks, which considerably cut their deposit and credit interest rates in 2010, may start raising them in the first quarter of 2011 amid higher inflation and a possible tightening of monetary policy by the Central Bank.
MOSCOW, December 27 (RIA Novosti)
