Russian inflation to drop to 8% this year: Putin

MOSCOW, Oct. 25 -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin predicted on Sunday that inflation in Russia would drop to slightly over 8 percent this year.

"We strive to reduce inflation to 8-9 percent. It will be slightly over 8 percent in 2009," Putin said at the Russian-Finnish forest summit in the northern Russian city of St. Petersburg.

The goal of cutting inflation rate down to 5-6 percent in the next three or four years is attainable, he was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Putin also said that a decline in inflation should entail lower interest rates, which will create stable conditions for business activities.

The Russian economy had developed at high speed and high inflation before it was hit hard by the global financial crisis.

Official statistics showed that Russia's inflation rate stood at 11.9 percent in 2007 and 13.3 percent in 2008.