Russia's inflation hits 6% as of April 20

MOSCOW. April 22. KAZINFORM Consumer prices in Russia grew 6% from January 1 to April 20, matching last year's figure for the same period, the national statistics body Rosstat said on Wednesday, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

The government expects inflation to stay below 13% in 2009, compared to last year's figure of 13.3%. Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said earlier in the day that the 7.4% budget deficit projected in the 2009 adjusted budget would not allow inflation to rise above 13-14% this year. Russia posted a budget deficit of 50 billion rubles ($1.5 billion), or 0.1% of gross domestic product, in the first quarter, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.