Russian inflation rises to 3.8 pct in November

MOSCOW, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia's annual inflation rate rose to 3.8 percent in November, from 3.5 percent in October and 3.4 percent in September, the Russian Federal Statistics Service said Thursday.

It did not provide the reason behind the rise, but reported Russia's inflation in January-November this year totaled 3.4 percent.

The Russian central bank has forecast inflation to rise up to 3.8-4.2 percent by the end of this year and to 5.0-5.5 percent next year, particularly due to the VAT increase from current 18 percent to 20 percent which will take effect from Jan. 1, 2019.

The bank expected inflation to move back to 4 percent in 2020.