MOSCOW, June 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's inflation totaled 1.4% in May compared with 0.6% in the same month of last year, a government source said on Wednesday.

As Russia continues to reap the benefits of high world oil prices with a large influx of petrodollars, consumer price growth has proved to be a major problem for the Russian authorities.

Inflation reached 7.5% from January 1 to May 26, compared to the government's target of 10.5% for the whole of 2008.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, following the results of the IMF mission's consultations with the Russian government, that inflationary pressure on Russia's economy was expected to remain, and that consumer prices could rise 14% this year.

At the same time, the government source said consumer price growth in Russia could slow down to 0.8-1.0% in June compared with 1.0% a year earlier.

"The Ministry of Economic Development expects consumer price growth to start decelerating in June. In particular, prices of milk are expected to fall, and bread prices to stabilize," the source said.

Mikhail Zadornov, a former finance minister and now head of VTB 24, a retail division of Russia's second largest bank VTB, said that the country's financial authorities have failed so far to formulate clearly expressed anti-inflationary measures, and that the ruble's appreciation in real and nominal terms remains the most effective way to combat inflation.