OREANDA-NEWS In September, Russians' inflation expectations dropped from 13.5 percent in the previous month to 12.6 percent. This is evidenced by the results of a brief survey conducted by inFOM on behalf of the Bank of Russia, Interfax reports.

This result was the lowest since September last year, when expectations remained at 12.5 percent. This year, they were the lowest in March — 12.9 percent.

The estimate of the observed inflation also dropped sharply, from 16.1 percent to 14.7 percent, which is also close to September last year, when it was equal to 14.4 percent.

Inflation expectations remain one of the main indicators for the Central Bank when making a decision on the key rate level. Their increase in August contributed to the fact that at the meeting of the board of directors of the regulator on September 12, the key rate was reduced to only 17 percent, and not to 16 percent, as most experts expected.

Earlier, the Central Bank announced a continued decline in official inflation in August. In terms of the year, excluding seasonality, it reached 4.1 percent.