Russia has lowest inflation in Europe – PM

Inflation in Russia has continued to slow through May, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told a Shanghai business forum on Tuesday, noting that the indicator is currently the lowest in Europe.

“As of early May, inflation slowed to 2.3% year-over-year. This is the lowest figure among all European countries,” Mishustin stated. The indicator continued to fall after a sharp drop to 3.51% in March from 10.99% in February. It is currently well below the government target of 5% for the year.

In comparison, Switzerland recorded 2.6% inflation in April, the second-lowest after Russia. The region’s largest economy, Germany, saw prices grow at a rate of 7.2%, France – 5.9%, Italy – 8.2%. Annual inflation for the Eurozone was recorded at 7%.

Mishustin also announced that Russia's unemployment rate had dropped to a record low of 3.5%.

The premier stated that the Russian economy on the whole was thriving despite the pressure of Western sanctions, with credit institutions, foreign exchange and stock markets functioning normally due to the well-developed national payment and settlement infrastructure.

He also noted that the government had been implementing large-scale programs to modernize infrastructure in the regions to help local businesses.

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