RIYADH: Consumer prices in Russia jumped 7.61 percent in March, their biggest month-on-month increase since January 1999, data showed on Friday, as the economy took a hit from sanctions and a record fall in the rouble. Inflation in Russia has accelerated sharply in the past few weeks as the ruble slipped to an all-time low last month after Russia began what it calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24. The fall in the ruble, which has recovered sharply this week to 2022 highs, boosted demand for a wide range of goods from food staples to cars on expectations that prices will rise even more. Germany’s growth to fall Germany’s economic growth could fall to 1.4 percent-1.5 percent this year, from 2.7 percent in 2021, with an average of around 590,000 people on reduced-hours lay-off schemes over the course of the year, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag. “We will still be growing,” Heil said. “But this all subject to the proviso that the war does not spread further and that energy supply remains in place,” he added. The government would provide further aid and support for lay-offs where possible to safeguard jobs if the situation worsened, Heil said. Germany plans to offer more than €100 billion ($108.8 billion) worth of aid to companies hit by fallout from the war in Ukraine, according to a document seen by Reuters on Friday. Argentina’s inflation estimate Argentina’s 2022 inflation is expected to reach 59.2 percent, analysts consulted by the country’s central bank said on Friday, largely due to the impact that the war in Ukraine is having on prices. The projection is 4.2 percentage points higher than the previous poll published one month ago. The survey, which consulted 41 participants between March 29 and 31, also estimated March’s inflation at 5.5 percent and a growth of 3.2 percent for the year. The economists surveyed expect the average nominal exchange rate in Argentina to be 154 pesos per dollar by December and expect it to reach 222 pesos per dollar by the end of 2023. Chile inflation surges Chile’s consumer prices rocketed 1.9 percent in March, the highest monthly rise in almost thirty years, underscoring the challenge for authorities as they battle spiraling inflation exacerbated by rising global commodities costs. The country’s official statistics agency said on Friday that the rise had been driven by food prices, non-alcoholic beverages and education. The monthly figure was far higher than the 1.05 percent rise expected in a Reuters poll of economists and is the highest monthly inflation rate since 1993. The rolling 12-month rate rose further to around 9.4 percent, the highest since 2008.