Russian May 2008 Inflation Preliminary Estimate

Russian consumer prices may have risen 1.2 percent in May, the Finance Ministry official in charge of forecasts said this morning. The rate for the first five months of the year will probably be 7.6 percent, according to Oksana Sergiyenko, director of the ministry's long-term planning department. The ministry is seeking to keep spending growth no higher than the pace of economic growth, she said.

``We made it our goal to abide by this rule,'' she said, adding that the ministry would present a plan for economic development through 2023, including spending targets, to the government on Aug. 1. Government spending increased 40 percent last year, while the economy expanded 8.1 percent.

Net capital inflows for May will reach at least $15 billion and no less than $41 billion for whole year 2008, according to Sergiyenko.