Russian Producer Prices Rise at Fastest Pace in Three Years

The cost of goods leaving Russian factories and mines rose at the fastest pace in more than three years in February as global energy and metal prices remained high, reported The Bloomberg.

Producer prices in the world's biggest energy exporter increased 26.4 percent, the fastest rate since December 2004, from 25.2 percent in January, the Federal Statistics Service said in an e-mail today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 11 economists was for a 26.1 percent pace. Prices rose 0.6 percent in the month, the statistics office said.

Energy, including oil and gas, accounted for 75 percent of Russia's exports to the Baltics and countries outside the former Soviet Union in January, the Federal Customs Service said on March 6.

Capital investment increased an annual 21.2 percent in February as industrial output expanded 7.5 percent, the statistics office also said.