Russian inflation is raging at 60%, not the reported 3.6%, thanks to the ruble's 'freefall', top economist Steve Hanke says
Russian inflation is raging at 60%, not the reported 3.6%, thanks to the ruble's 'freefall', top economist Steve Hanke says
Russian inflation has soared to an extreme level of 60%, compared to the official figure of 3.6%, thanks to a plunge in the ruble, according to top economist Steve Hanke.
60% against what price index? This is his own “Hanke” index, which mostly is measuring PPP, but most of Russia always had a low PPP anyways.
Traditional consumer goods in Russia like bread, milk, and eggs are not significantly changed, but obviously most European imports are not possible right now, so specific goods may be obscenely expensive. This includes things like vehicles and technology, for obvious reasons.
Outside of major hubs like Moscow, it is a fair question to ask whether consumers even notice inflation in Russia, outside of the availability of specific brands.
Yes, Russian consumers do notice significant inflation every month: https://fom.ru/ekonomika/11554
Here is a link to a Google translate of the page:
https://fom-ru.translate.goog/ekonomika/11554?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=da&_x_tr_pto=wapp
From the article: "According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Russian inflation expectations jumped to 11.1% in July."
That's a pretty high number too. Especially since expectations are that it will get worse for a number of reasons.
Russia is sorely lacking workers now, in part because they fled the country, and ion part because they are in war or casualties of war, and in part because the Russian demographics would have caused a slight drop too.
Despite that economists expect a slight economic increase this year. This is a bit strange, but to me it seems that although the Russian economy is under a lot of stress, it simultaneously acts like it's overheating, just maintaining the current level.
Whether this will soon act like a bubble collapsing IDK. But if it does, it's really bad, because it's not just financial, it's the entire infrastructure that basically collapses.
You can't notice inflation when your corpse is rotting on Ukrainian soil. That's Putinnomics 101.
I wonder if it's sensational or it really hits. Some pieces of grocery felt off my list, but since Centrobank measures and completely unobvious pricing of goods (sales, loyal customer cards, new noname brands replacing those who 'left', normalizing poor men's stores - warehouses where items are staying in storage packgages and employees are minimal to cut prices down) and a long-term habit of prices keeping cimbing at ridiculous rate, it's not the breaking point. How it would hurt the big players tho is the question because big firms cutting their wants = unemployment, and their budget is as challenged. When I drop another portion of meat from my diet, they drop a dozen of employees off.
My perspective is too small but I've noticed an old off-tone joke reposted more frequently.
Dad, you having your wage cut means you'd drink less?
No, my pleasure. It means you'd get to eat less.
For what it seems, there's still ground for maneuvers in average Ivan's grocery list. More lifehacks and thrift options are discovered by many. The frog is boiling on slow fire.