OREANDA-NEWS  As of December 1, according to Rosstat estimates, annual inflation in Russia has slowed to 6.61 percent. President Vladimir Putin has not ruled out that by the end of the year the growth rate of consumer prices will drop to around 6 percent. Despite the optimistic forecasts of the authorities, a number of experts warn that the risks of another price crackdown should not be discounted.

December, analysts remind us, is traditionally considered the month of the inflation spike. The peak price acceleration, predicted by the first deputy chairman of VTB Dmitry Pyanov, will be at the beginning of next year. Such risks, warned Vladimir Eremkin, senior researcher at the IPEI Structural Research Laboratory of the Presidential Academy, are likely to prevent the regulator from moving to a more drastic easing of monetary policy. By the end of the year, he believes, the key rate is unlikely to fall below 16 percent.