China News Agency, Beijing, May 14 (Reporter Liu Liang) Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, under the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the West, Russia's inflation rate has reached a new high, and its economic prospects have also been overshadowed.

  According to data disclosed by the Russian Federal Bureau of Statistics recently, the inflation rate in Russia in April rose to 17.83% year-on-year.

This data is not only higher than March's 16.69%, but also a 20-year high.

From the month-on-month data, Russia's inflation rose by 1.56% in April, compared with 7.61% in March, and the month-on-month growth rate has declined.

  Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in late February, domestic prices in Russia have continued to climb.

The reason for the soaring inflation in Russia is mainly due to the sanctions imposed by the United States and the West on Russia's economy, finance, energy and trade.

  In the face of strict sanctions from the United States and the West in multiple directions, Russia's economic environment is under enormous pressure.

  On the one hand, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continued to escalate, causing panic in the capital market, causing the ruble exchange rate to plummet and depreciate sharply.

On the other hand, with the weakening of the ruble and restrictions on external trade, the prices of goods such as vegetables, sugar, clothes and smartphones in Russia have also risen sharply.

This was also reflected in the April inflation sub-data, where commodity inflation, including food, rose markedly.

  But the continued rise in inflation has not caused undue concern to the Russian central bank.

The Central Bank of Russia expects that inflation will continue to accelerate due to the base effect, but with the stabilization of the financial sector, Russia's economic policy is gradually transitioning from "mainly anti-crisis" to "equal emphasis on preventing risks and promoting development".

In this regard, the Central Bank of Russia has recently decided to announce a reduction in key interest rates to support economic development after raising interest rates sharply.

  According to the Central Bank of Russia, the price level is expected to rise by 18% to 23% this year. Considering that there have been large increases in late February and March, inflation is expected to be controlled within the range of 10% to 12% in the next 12 months.

  Although the Russian central bank said that the current level of inflation is controllable, it is still difficult to hide the overall downward trend of the Russian economy this year.

According to the World Bank, the Russian economy will shrink by 11.2% this year due to sanctions.

The International Monetary Fund also expects that Russia's economic growth rate will continue to decline this year and next.

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