(Bloomberg) -- Price growth in Russia accelerated in November to meet the central bank’s worst-case expectations, raising the odds that rate-setters will opt to further tighten monetary policy when they meet next week. 

Annual inflation reached 7.48% last month, up from 6.69% in October, according to Federal Statistics Service data published late Friday. In monthly terms, inflation came in at 1.1% after reaching 0.83% the previous month. Russia is set to end the fourth straight year with inflation well above the Bank of Russia’s 4% target. 

Price growth has now reached the upper boundary of the bank’s forecast range of 7%-7.5% for the whole of 2023, which Governor Elvira Nabiullina revised upward several times during the year.  

Read more: Russia Opts for Big Rate Hike Even as War Curbs Shield Ruble

Policymakers indicated after the last rate-setting meeting that they’d be ready to hike the benchmark again this year if they didn’t see “a sufficient effect from the tough steps already taken.” The bank will announce its next rate decision Dec. 15.

In the first week of November, after the bank had raised the key rate by 200 basis points, inflation spiked in large part due to a sharp price increase by local carmaker AvtoVAZ PJSC, which is under international sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine and faces rising costs for components. 

Read more: Russia’s Weekly Price Growth Spikes as Inflation Worries Persist

Russia’s inflation expectations continued to increase in November. Moreover, economists have raised their forecasts through next year, according to a survey conducted by Bloomberg. 

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