Gas station in CaliforniaMOSCOW, Mar 12Restrictions on Russian raw material exports are not the primary source of colossal inflationary pressure in the US and EU countries, but sanctions can become a serious factor in further accelerating global price growth, Natalya Safina, head of the Macroeconomic Analysis and Financial Markets department at the Center for Strategic Research, told RIA Novosti. USA March 8 introduced a ban on the import of Russian oil, a number of petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal. Following this, the UK announced that by the end of the year it would stop importing oil and oil products from Russia. The EU, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Friday, has decided not to impose sanctions against Russia that affect the oil and gas sectors. Safina noted that the current difficult geopolitical situation and increased sanctions pressure on Russia have indeed provoked a rise in prices for most commodities. For example, quotations of Brent oil were approaching the record levels of 2008 at the moment; aluminum has renewed its historical maximum, exceeding the peak of 2008 by 24%; wheat prices have also rewritten the record of the last global financial crisis. US President Joe Biden linked the record 40-year inflation in the United States with anti-Russian sanctions. «Of course, sanctions are a very serious factor for accelerating global inflation. In particular, at the end of the first week of March, the average cost of a liter of gasoline in Germany already exceeded 2 euros (in in early 2022, the price was around 1.7 euros.) In the US, according to the American Automobile Association, the average prices are already 4.3 dollars per gallon (3.7 dollars just a week ago),» the expert emphasized. She explained that the problem acceleration of inflation in Western countries has been brewing over the past year and was caused by an extended period of ultra-loose monetary policy, coupled with a massive liquidity overhang in the markets, as well as continued problems in labor mobility and supply chain disruptions. «This is confirmed by the latest inflation data: in February US consumer price index jumped from 7.5% to 7.9% in annual terms, updating the maximum of 1982, inflation accelerated in the Eurozone from 5.1% to 5.8%, which is a historical maximum. That is, even regardless of the sanctions story with Russia, inflation in the largest Western countries continued to accelerate intensively, which is likely to increase many times over in March,” Safina added. only a catalyst, and not the primary source and the only cause of the colossal inflationary pressure that the European and American economies are experiencing,» she believes. persuade Europe to buy oil and gas, warned Lavrov
