Governor Elvira Nabiullina wasn’t about to run down the clock when only minutes remained before the Bank of Russia entered a self-imposed communication blackout.
As expectations mounted that central bankers on Friday will cut interest rates a second time this year, Nabiullina broke a two-month silence on monetary policy to deliver an unscheduled speech with only about an hour left before the week-long quiet period. Her message for Russian businesses that may be finding it difficult to adapt to restrictive policy: get used to it. Don’t wait for a sudden outside improvement or easing of domestic monetary conditions, she said at a conference in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, addressing everyone from banks to state institutions.