MOSCOW, April 9 (RIA Novosti) – President Vladimir Putin’s nominee for head of the central bank said on Tuesday that the fight against inflation was a top priority in Russia’s monetary policy.
“Inflation of 7 percent [per annum] still creates a high level of uncertainty. Gradually reducing inflation to 3-4 percent should be the central task of monetary policy,” Elvira Nabiullina told the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, which was discussing Tuesday her endorsement as new chief of the country’s top bank.
If endorsed, Nabiullina, who served as Russia’s economics minister from 2007-2012, would be the first female top banker in the G8 group of seven industrialized nations plus Russia.
High inflation has been a headache for the Russian government since the country started its transition to a market economy in the early 1990s. Higher-than-expected inflation inhibits long-term investment in the Russian economy.
Putin said on Sunday that inflation in Russia still remained high and could exceed the government’s forecast of 5-6 percent for 2013.
“We are purposefully targeting all our problems, including inflation, which still remains high. Last year, it was around 6.2-6.3 percent and this year it will be slightly higher, we already know this. But we are purposefully working on cutting inflation,” Putin said.
