KHABAROVSK (Sputnik) — The inflation rate in Russia will amount to 7-7.5 percent by the end of 2016, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Sunday.
"I do not consider 7.5-percent forecast optimistic, I believe that 7-7.5 percent is a very realistic assessment of the end of year inflation rate," Ulyukayev told Russia's NTV broadcaster answering a corresponding question.
He added that February inflation in Russia on a year-on-year basis would amount to 8.3-8.4 percent which is drastically less than a 15-percent rate in the fall of 2015.
The Russian economy was hit by falling oil prices and the Western sanctions imposed against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis. In 2014, the ruble lost almost half of its value against the dollar triggering soaring inflation in the country.
In January, the annual inflation in Russia amounted to 9.8 percent.
