October 14, 2007	Sunday	Shawwal 1, 1428

MOSCOW, Oct 13: Russia’s top officials sought on Saturday to reassure voters the cabinet has price growth under control despite a spike in food prices six weeks ahead of a parliamentary election. “Within two or three months the situation will stabilise,”

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who became the economic policy tsar in a cabinet shakeup last month, said after a meeting of ministers with senior members of parliament.

Consumer prices rose 0.8 per cent in September, bringing nine-month inflation to 7.5pc, close to the 2007 full-year target of 8 per cent. Food prices jumped 1 per cent due to rising costs of milk, dairy products and sunflower oil.

Officials conceded that inflation this year will exceed last year’s nine per cent, with some saying such a result amounted to an economic policy failure.

Kudrin has said spending of oil and gas revenues in 2007 has been “excessive,” while there have also been record capital inflows.

The spike in inflation is a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has built huge popularity in part by overseeing economic stability and keeping a lid on prices despite inflationary pressures from the booming economy.

Russia’s parliament summoned key cabinet members to report on rising prices.

Food prices are rising around the world due to a combination of demand and supply pressures that economists term “agflation”.—Reuters