MOSCOW (AP) — Moscow supermarket shelves are filled with fruits, vegetables, cheese and meat. But many shoppers view the collection with dread as inflation makes their wallets look empty.
The Russian Central Bank raised its key lending rate four times this year in an attempt to control inflation and stabilize the ruble exchange rate as the economy bears the effects of the Russian military operation in Ukraine and Western sanctions imposed as a result.
The last time it raised interest rates – to 15%, double that since the start of the year – the bank said it was concerned about rates that were increasing at an annual pace of about 12%. The bank now expects the inflation rate for the full year, as well as next year, to reach about 7.5%.
Although this rate is high, it may be an understatement.
He added: “If we talk in percentage terms, probably (prices) increased by 25%. These are meat and basic products – dairy products, fruits, vegetables and sausages. My husband cannot live without sausages!” said Roxana Zheltkova, a shopper at a supermarket. In Moscow: “Sometimes I’m surprised at the high prices.”
Asked if her income as a pensioner was enough to put food on the table, customer Lilia Tsarkova said: “No, of course not. “I get help from my children.”
Without their help, “I don’t know how to pay rent and food,” the 70-year-old said.
Figures released by the state statistics service Rosstat on November 1 show a significant rise in the prices of some foods compared to 2022 – 74% for cabbage, 72% for oranges, and 47% for cucumbers.
The Russian parliament approved the 2024-2026 budget, which represents a record amount of defense spending. Maxim Plant, a Russian economic analyst based in Latvia, believes that this is an indication that prices will continue to rise sharply.
“It is simply impossible to solve the problem of inflation under conditions … when the military-industrial complex receives unlimited financing, when they are given everything they ask for, when the share of this military-industrial complex in the economy is growing at a rapid pace,” the Associated Press told the Associated Press. Extremely”.
The interest rate hike by the central bank has slightly moderated the fall in the ruble’s exchange rate – the rate is now around 88 to the US dollar from more than 100 earlier. But that’s still much higher than in the summer of 2022, when it was around $60 to the dollar.
This keeps the cost of imports high, even as import possibilities are reduced by Western sanctions.
