Nabiullina responded to criticism of the Central Bank for decisions on the key rate

“You know, criticism of our policies is particularly acute during periods of high rates and during periods of rate hike cycles. I think you’ve seen this for many years already. We made the decision based on our assessment of the situation and our forecasts,” Nabiullina said.

At the same time, he stressed that lately the regulator actively interacts with both banks and the real sector. “From a communication point of view, we will see what can be improved here. In fact, the problem of communicating our decisions is very important, that is why we are still explaining the logic of our movements,” said the head of the Central Bank.

On Friday, December 20, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank left the key interest rate at 21% per year and decided not to tighten the policy for the fourth consecutive time. According to Nabiullina, the council also considered increasing the rate to 22% or 23%.

The head of the Central Bank allowed a rate increase at the next meeting on February 14, 2025. “We will choose between two possible solutions. [по ключевой ставке]“: either we will make sure that the achieved rigidity is sufficient or, if the current scale of overheating of demand does not decrease and lending moves into a new round of expansion, we will again discuss the issue of raising the key rate.” she explained.

The Central Bank explained that the exchange rate remained at the same level set on October 25 because the tightening of monetary conditions in Russia turned out to be more significant than expected in the October decision.

At the same time, the majority of experts and analysts surveyed by RB.RU agreed that the Central Bank will increase the interest rate to 23%. The chief economist of Banco Alfa, Natalia Orlova, admitted that the rate will immediately increase to 25%, “because inflation is accelerating.”

The day before, Bloomberg sources close to the Kremlin reported that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin complained about Nabiullina to Vladimir Putin. According to them, the head of the Cabinet of Ministers said that the actions of the Central Bank hinder the government’s efforts to support the national economy in the face of sanctions.

Sources from the agency affirm that other officials, bankers and company executives who were not satisfied with the course chosen by the Central Bank also contacted the president. Putin himself has not yet considered the possibility of removing Nabiullina from the post of head of the Central Bank, believing that she makes the necessary decisions to support the Russian economy, Bloomberg wrote.