Russia withholds data as inflation soars; rates hit 21%
The Russian Statistical Office did not publish detailed inflation data for September. The Kremlin is withholding statistics because prices are skyrocketing in Russia. Consequently, the central bank raised the main interest rate to 21 percent, the highest level over 20 years.
10:43 AM EDT, October 29, 2024
As "The Moscow Times" notes, Rosstat published the overall inflation rate for September on October 11. Despite more than two weeks have passed since then, detailed data has yet to appear on the office's website or in the Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System (EMISS).
These detailed statistics show how much the prices of specific goods and services included in Rosstat's consumer basket have risen. According to the latest data, inflation decreased to 8.6 percent in September from 9 percent in August.
However, according to Paweł Jeżowski, a stock market investor and analyst of the Russian economy, inflation may be as high as 30 percent, as he mentioned in late July on the program "Didaskalia." Economists from the Stockholm Institute of Economics have also warned that the Kremlin is falsifying data on price increases.
Skyrocketing prices have led the Russian central bank to raise the main interest rate to 21 percent, the highest level in over 20 years. The bank stated in an official communiqué that inflation is rising due to increased demand resulting from higher public spending, credit offerings, and a worker shortage.
Large military expenditures, payments to soldiers and their families, and spending on the defense sector, combined with the overall shift of the Russian economy to a wartime footing, allow it to largely neutralize the effects of Western sanctions. However, the French agency AFP explains that this leads to inflation.
"The economy of death creates a financial bubble"
In recent months, Russian company executives have complained about rising bank loan costs and, consequently, increased investment costs, which they believe lead to limited economic growth, particularly in sectors not related to the defense industry.
The newspaper Le Monde recently emphasized that "the economy of death is driving economic growth in Russia." According to the Parisian newspaper, large spending on the defense industry, soldiers' salaries, compensation, and benefits for the families of the fallen creates a "financial bubble that prolongs the war." The infusion of money reaching consumers increases demand but overheats the Russian economy, causing inflation to rise.
