Today, Friday, a meeting of the Central Bank of Russia will be held to discuss the country’s monetary policy amid expectations that the Russian regulator will keep the main interest rate at the current level of 7.5% per annum without changes.
The Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia (Central Bank of Russia) will announce its decision this afternoon, amid expectations in the markets, and now (at 11:10 Moscow time) the dollar is trading at 76.55. rubles, and the euro stands at the level of 81.54 rubles.
Experts believe that the Central Bank of Russia will most likely not raise the main interest rate, and they said that the trend in Russia is currently aimed at supporting the business sector, so the Central Bank will not raise the main interest rate because this is an increase in the interest rate on loans, if any.
Another factor indicating that the regulator will not make such a decision is the recent slowdown in inflation in Russia.
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a conference of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Russia, indicated that inflation in Russia had slowed and reached 7.6% by mid-March, while the rate would fall below the target level of 4% in early April.
The President of Russia said: “It (inflation) will be less than in the eurozone countries, which are waiting for the collapse of the Russian economy and trying to convince themselves of this.”
For comparison, inflation at the end of 2022 was 11.9%, and at the middle of March 2023 – 7.6%.
Source: RT