Nabiullina announced the Central Bank’s readiness to raise rates again in the future

Chairman of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina at a press conference after a meeting of the regulator’s board of directors said that the Central Bank is ready to further increase the key rate again. Today the Central Bank raised it from 13% to 200 bp. up to 15%. According to her, the main factor in the decision is inflation and inflation expectations of the population.

“At recent meetings, we raised the key rate with tangible steps and we will be ready to do this again if we do not see a sustainable slowdown in inflation and a cooling of inflation expectations,” Ms. Nabiullina said at press conferences following a meeting of the regulator’s board of directors.

She added that the Central Bank did not consider maintaining the key rate at 13% and discussed three solutions: an increase of 1%, 1.5% and 2%. Maintaining a high rate level, according to Elvira Nabiullina, will prevent the spiral of inflation from unwinding.

As the head of the Central Bank clarified, it will be possible to reduce the indicator in 2024 “after a sustained decline in inflation.” Next year, the regulator expects inflation to slow down to 4-4.5% and return to the Central Bank’s target. This, according to Ms. Nabiullina, will happen under the influence of monetary policy, the tightening of which is “already being transmitted to the economy.”

More details in the text “Kommersant” “Race with inflation”.

Petr Buzlaev