Fuel Prices Surge: Russia's Inflation to Climb Higher

Rising gasoline and diesel prices will add 0.6–0.7 percentage points to Russia's persistent inflation, according to Andrey Gangan, Director of the Bank of Russia's Monetary Policy Department. The regulator previously estimated the total contribution of fuel to annual inflation at 1.5 percentage points. Of this, approximately 0.8 percentage points resulted from direct price increases at filling stations, while the remainder stemmed from secondary effects impacting core inflation. The Central Bank is scheduled to release an updated medium-term forecast in October, which may include revised estimates on fuel's inflationary impact.