"Yesterday, I gave a figure of 11.5%. It may be higher but will stay under 12%, I hope," Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Belousov said.
The government's inflation target for this year was 8%. Inflation was 9% in 2006.
Russia's State Statistics Service said on Wednesday that inflation in Russia totaled 1.2% in November, against 0.6% last November, and consumer prices grew 10.6% in January-November, against 8.2% in the same period of 2006.
Belousov said higher-than-projected inflation in November was due to accelerated growth in vegetable and fruit prices.
In a recent report the World Bank said the limited number of instruments for withdrawing excess monetary resources from the economy and the current policy of restricting the ruble's nominal appreciation are making it increasingly difficult for Russian fiscal authorities to rein in inflation.
