Russia records lowest inflation since fall of USSR

Russian inflation fell to 5.4 percent in 2016, the lowest annual rate since the collapse of the Soviet Union a quarter century ago, a preliminary estimate from the Rosstat national statistics agency showed Friday. The previous record for the lowest annual inflation rate was in 2011, when consumer prices rose by 6.1 percent.

Russian inflation slowed sharply over 2016 from the 12.9 percent recorded in 2015, providing some much needed relief for consumers who have struggled to keep up with rising prices for food and other goods.

With just over a year until the next presidential election, the sharp slowdown in inflation has been hailed by President Vladimir Putin as an economic success.

Falling oil prices and Western sanctions triggered a plunge in the value of the ruble in 2014 and 2015, thus sending prices of imported consumer goods dramatically higher.

Lower purchasing power has dampened consumer demand, and has fed through to lower inflation. Rosstat said consumer prices rose by 0.4 percent in December from November, the same rate as the previous two months.