The board of directors of the Bank of Russia decided to maintain the key interest rate at 16% per year, the regulator reported in a statement.
Join
The Central Bank notes that inflationary pressure is gradually weakening, but remains high.
“Domestic demand continues to significantly exceed the possibilities of expanding the production of goods and services. The rigidity of the labor market has intensified again,” the regulator says in its materials.
The Central Bank warned that “it is too early to judge the speed of disinflationary trends.”
The annual inflation rate currently remains at the February level and, as of March 18, amounted to 7.7%. The Central Bank still maintains the forecast according to which annual inflation will fall to
On February 16, the Bank of Russia kept the key interest rate at 16% per year for the first time; Before that, he had raised it five times in a row.
The PSB had previously predicted that the indicator would remain at 16%.
Nikolai Ryaskov, chief investment officer at PSB Management Company, explained this by saying that “the latest inflation data for the week records zero price growth,” suggesting the regulator will choose between maintaining or increasing the rate. The PSB was inclined to keep the exchange rate unchanged.
The next meeting of the Central Bank, at which the issue of the level of the key interest rate will be considered, will take place on April 26.
Previously, a study by Sberbank and the Ministry of Economic Development showed that more than 40% of entrepreneurs encountered difficulties due to the increase in the key rate.
Author:
Anastasia Marina
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
