Russian weekly consumer prices edge higher in January

(Reuters) -Russia recorded a slight rise in weekly consumer prices, data showed on Wednesday, a little over two weeks before the central bank next sets interest rates, with the trend of gradual price increases seen in the fourth quarter of last year continuing.

The consumer price index rose 0.14% in the week to Jan. 23, the Rosstat federal statistics service said, marginally down from a 0.15% rise a week earlier. So far this year, prices are up 0.53%.

A separate set of Rosstat data published on Wednesday showed the producer price index, a measure of how much suppliers charge clients, fell to -3.3% in annual terms in December, down from a reading of -1.9% in November.

The central bank targets inflation at 4%, which it aims to achieve by 2024. It has forecast inflation to fall to 5% to 7% this year.

Russia's economy ministry on Wednesday said annual inflation was running at 11.49% as of Jan. 23, down from 11.57% a week earlier.

Inflation in Russia has remained subdued in recent months due to weak consumer demand, which has been exacerbated by Russia's military mobilisation campaign.

Annual inflation for 2022 came in at 11.9%. Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said this month he saw inflation falling substantially by the end of the first quarter, with the second quarter figure below the 4% target.

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Darya Korsunskaya; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)