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Russia Lowers Its Interest Rate

The Russian Central Bank has reduced its key lending rate by half a percentage point to 10.5%. It was the bank’s first adjustment since last August.
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The Russian Central Bank has reduced its key lending rate by half a percentage point to 10.5%. It was the bank’s first adjustment since last August.

The CBR says a Russian economic recovery is “imminent,” citing slowing inflation and positive trends in gross domestic product. The country's economy shrank 3.7% last year. But rebounding oil prices, which have surged from $27 to $50 per barrel since January, are sparking a revival. The bank expects Russia's GDP to begin rising in the second half of this year and grow 1.3% in 2017.

The country's inflation rate, which has stabilized at 7.3% over the past three months, will drop to the bank’s target of 4% by the end of 2017, predicts Governor Elvira Nabiullina.

She says the CBR will consider another cut in the interest rate when it meets on July 29. But she cautions that last Friday’s reduction should not be considered the start of an easing cycle.

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