The Bank of Russia should have started increasing interest rates earlier, namely in the spring of 2023. He reported this in an interview RBC Governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Elvira Nabiullina.
“Inflationary pressures started to increase starting from the second half of the year. And now the rate of price growth is actually quite high, well above our inflation target. “And yes, looking back, we understand that monetary policy was soft and the interest rate should have been raised sooner,” he said.
According to him, price growth currently significantly exceeds the Central Bank’s target level of 4%. The Central Bank increased the policy rate from 7.5 percent to 16 percent in five stages in 2023. The first decision regarding tightening followed only in July.
The head of the regulator emphasized that a sustainable decline in inflation must be achieved in order to move towards policy easing. Analysis of a wide range of indicators will be required for at least 2-3 months.
Inflation in Russia was 7.5% in November. Experts expect a growth of 7.6-8 percent by the end of the year. Moreover grew up The population’s inflation expectation increased to 14.2% in December, its highest level since the spring.
According to Nabiullina, high expectations mean inertia in inflation and make it difficult to reduce it. To reduce these, a consistent policy from the Central Bank is required. realizable practically.
Previously at the Central Bank said About the risk of inflation deviation in 2024.