The Russian economy has been experiencing stagflation, a nearly flat economic growth combined with a high inflation rate, a senior executive at the Russian Central Bank said Wednesday.

"In a whole group of developing economies, including Russia, we can speak about stagflation -- slow economic growth accompanied by a spike in inflation," Ksenia Yudayeva, the bank's first deputy governor, told an economic forum here.

Economists describe stagflation as a rather rare phenomenon in a market economy because a sluggish economy growth normally reduces consumer demand, thus curbing price hikes.

Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev, who also participated in the four-day forum, agreed with Yudayeva that stagflation is a correct term to describe the current situation of the Russian economy.

He warned that Russia's average annual economic growth rate over the next two years would not exceed 2.5 percent, compared to a forecast for the global economy growth of above 3.5 percent.

Russia's gross domestic product grew by an estimated 1.4 percent in 2013, the slowest pace since 2009.

Despite the Central Bank's inflation-targeting policy, it failed to keep consumer prices within its target band in the past two years.