Russia
 
MOSCOW, RUSSIA — Russia’s headline consumer price index (CPI) reached a record low of 2.5% in 2017, according to a Feb. 9 Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The CPI was down significantly from the 5.4% recorded in Russia in 2016, the report said.

A record was also set in 2017 for food price inflation at 1.1%, down from 4.6% the year before.

“Russia’s record-high harvest coupled with continuing decline in real incomes and a tight monetary policy made the record-low CPI possible in 2017,” the report said. “In 2018, barring significant fluctuations on the world commodity and financial markets, the CPI in Russia is expected to trend back toward the 4% target set by the Central Bank of Russia.”

It said an expected recovery of consumer activity should push the CPI higher in 2018 in the absence of significant fluctuations on the world commodity and financial markets.