Inflation in Russia rose to its highest level in 20 years as of April 8, amid fluctuations in the ruble in light of the application of Western sanctions on Moscow.

The data of the Russian Ministry of Economy revealed that inflation had risen to 17.49% as of April 8, the highest level since February 2002, compared to 16.7% last week.

Russian consumer prices jumped 7.61% in March, the largest month-on-month increase since January 1999.

In contrast, the Russian Central Bank targets annual inflation at 4%, and decided at the end of last week to cut the interest rate by 300 basis points at 17%, with expectations of implementing more future reductions.

The Russian Central Bank warned, on Wednesday, that consumer inflation may continue to accelerate on an annual basis and that the ruble will lead to upward inflationary pressures.

Aleksei Kudrin, head of the Russian Audit Chamber, said today that inflation in Moscow could range from 17% to 20% this year, while analysts polled by Reuters expected late March Inflation accelerated in 2022 to an average of 23.7%, the highest level since 1999.