MOSCOW, June 6 (RIA Novosti) - The Central Bank of Russia forecasts the amount of the gold reserves in Russia at the end of the year to a value of $170 -$175 billion, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Alexei Ulyukayev said.

"The annual gold reserve growth will amount to $48 billion, with the oil price at the level of $43 for barrel," he said at a conference in Moscow.

Ulyukayev reminded the audience that at the beginning of the current year the amount of the gold reserves totaled $147 billion, having increased since that time by $24 billion.

If Russia had not paid off its foreign debt ahead of time in 2005, the gold reserve growth since the beginning of the year would stand at $60 billion, not $48 billion, Ulyukayev said.

The inflation forecast for the first five months of 2005 in Russia is 7.1%, he added. Inflation in non-food products is lower in 2005 than it was in 2004, Ulyukayev said.