russian 100rouble banknotes are placed on a cashiers desk at a supermarket in the siberian town of tara in the omsk region russia december 14 2021 picture taken december 14 2021 reutersalexey malgavko moscow july 20 reuters  consumer prices in russia declined 017 in the week to july 15 after sliding 003 a week earlier data showed on wednesday keeping the door open for the central bank to consider cutting rates as soon as this week the roubles strengthening and a drop in consumer demand have helped russia rein in inflation which soared to 20year highs in annual terms after moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into ukraine on feb 24 so far this year consumer prices have risen 1141 compared with a 451 increase in the same period of 2021 data from the federal statistics service rosstat showed prices on nearly everything from vegetables and sugar to clothes and smartphones have risen sharply since feb 24 in a separate set of data the economy ministry said annual consumer inflation slowed to 1539 as of july 15 down from 1562 a week earlier meanwhile inflationary expectations among russian households declined in july to 108 their lowest level since march 2021 from 124 in june data showed on wednesday the central bank which targets annual inflation at 4 is widely expected to cut its key interest rate by at least 50 basis points from 95 at its board meeting on friday to limit the depth of economic contraction with cheaper lending the data on inflationary expectations increases the probability that the central bank could opt for a larger 100basispoint cut on friday said evgeny suvorov economist at centrocreditbank high inflation has been the key concern among russian households for years as it dents living standards something that this year will be aggravated by the economic crisis triggered by unprecedented western sanctions against russia reporting by reuters editing by andrew cawthorne and matthew lewis