Commodity inflation in Russia in April year-on-year is indeed lower than in Europe, and even showed deflation, the associate professor of the Department of Finance and Prices of the Russian Economic University named after Zvezda. GV Plekhanova Maria Dolgova. This is explained by the fact that in Russia food products increased noticeably in the spring of 2022, while in Europe this is not yet the case. But in Europe, prices are now rising, while in Russia they have stabilized.
When analyzing price growth year by year, the dynamics of a given month and a year ago, and the current year are important.
“March-April of last year was a sharp rise in the prices of food, consumer goods in our country. Therefore, the high base of price changes last year compared to April of the current year gives such a result, showing a decline in food prices,” explained Maria Dolgova.
In Europe, last year was marked by a lower price increase in April. But now the cost of food there is under pressure such as a sharp rise in energy prices last year and earlier this year, disruptions in supply chains that did not further rebates from the pandemic, a shortage of cheap labor and rising transportation costs. .
“So according to April data, indeed, our country is the leader in falling food prices, the only country in which deflation is found. And such a slowdown in price growth in our country is due to a number of factors. This is a strong harvest last year, which made it possible to build up stocks, last year’s purchases of goods and food, which were carried out with a strong ruble, which contributed to the fall in the prices of imported goods during this period, and in fact, the fact that the country could obtain some of the main food products,” the expert said.
According to Dolgova, in the summer months, most likely, there will not be such a slowdown in the growth of food prices in Russia. Since the price comparison for the summer months will already be made with the prices of the previous year, which have already increased in 2022 compared to March-April.
“As a result, aspects such as seasonal deflation associated with lower vegetable and fruit prices, which we traditionally see in late summer, may not be as pronounced in the summer of 2023,” he said. Maria Dolgova.
Earlier it was reported that in April this year, Russia became the only country in Europe where food and non-alcoholic beverage prices fell. Deflation in these categories in Russia amounted to 0.22% in annual terms.
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