MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - Inflation in Russia will reach 10% in 2007, Alexei Kudrin, deputy prime minister and finance minister, told the press after a closed government session on Thursday.
The inflation target for 2007 is set at 8%.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, fielding questions in an ongoing live TV and radio broadcast, admitted that it would be impossible to keep inflation on target this year, echoing comments made by Economic Development and Trade Minister Elvira Nabiullina last week.
"We are unlikely to keep inflation within the 8% target," the president said.
The finance minister told journalists: "We have not yet concluded our forecast. I am going by the market figure quoted by experts, of 10%."
Kudrin said the government would allocate 1 billion rubles ($40 million) in subsidies for loans to buy raw agricultural goods from Russian and foreign suppliers. The minister described this as a market measure aimed at curbing inflation.
He said the Finance Ministry expects to bring inflation down to 6% in 2010.
"Our goal is to keep inflation within 6% in 2010. We will exceed the target figure of 8% this year, going beyond last year's level [9%]," Kudrin said.
