Russian inflation slows in Jan

Annual inflation in Russia slowed further in January, but consumer prices rose in month-on-month terms, data showed on Friday.

Inflation has slowed since accelerating sharply after Russia began what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, a move that triggered sweeping Western sanctions and disrupted supply chains.

In January, annual inflation slowed to 11.77 per cent from 11.94 per cent a month earlier, data from the statistics service Rosstat showed. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a slowdown to 11.5 per cent.

The Bank of Russia targets annual inflation at 4 per cent.

Month-on-month, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.84 per cent after a 0.78 per cent increase in December. In March, the index jumped 7.61 per cent, the biggest month-on-month increase since January 1999.

The central bank on Friday kept its key rate at 7.5 per cent and its year-end inflation forecast at 5.0-7.0 per cent.