Russia Pivots Toward Rate Cuts, Warns Room for Easing ‘Limited’
- Benchmark kept at 10%, matching all but one forecast in survey
- Policy makers targeting inflation at 4% in 2017 after crisis
Russia’s Central Bank Holds Key Rate at 10%
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Russia’s central bank moved past this year’s unprecedented pledge to keep interest rates on hold while warning of “limited” potential for monetary loosening.
The Bank of Russia held the one-week auction rate at 10 percent for a second meeting and said easing may resume in the first half, according to a statement on Friday. That’s in line with all but one of 35 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey. Governor Elvira Nabiullina said at a news conference that the pace of any reductions will ensure that monetary policy remains “moderately tight,” with the first decrease more likely in the second quarter than in the first three months of 2017.