The State Duma’s Control Committee has been proposed to assess the validity of the current key rate set by the Bank of Russia and to supervise the regulator’s accounts and operations. This stance traces back to 2024 when a critical Audit Chamber report examined the central bank’s monetary policy framework, its financial housekeeping, and the governance processes surrounding its leadership. The move reflects growing scrutiny from lawmakers about how policy decisions influence the economy and how closely the central bank’s actions are watched by Parliament. The report highlighted gaps in transparency and questioned whether the regulatory body was balancing price stability with financial system resilience. The Interface report documenting those findings has become a reference point for advocates of stronger parliamentary oversight.
The Control Committee has been fielded with questions from United Russia and the Communist Party about the Central Bank’s internal accounts review and the operations of its account facility. Lawmakers pressed for additional information on a range of issues that could shape the regulator’s policy choices and their macroeconomic consequences, including the impact on inflation dynamics, currency stability, and lending conditions. The exchange underscores the partisan interest in how the central bank sets the policy rate and how its financial controls might constrain or enable future monetary actions. (Interface)
During proceedings, a committee member stated that there is an excessive demand to evaluate the economic validity of the current key rate and to demand full-scale oversight of the Bank’s accounts and operations. This remark reflects a tension between the push for rigorous parliamentary examination and the central bank’s mandate to conduct independent monetary policy. The phrase captures concerns that Parliament may overstep into technical policy judgments while still insisting that accountability and transparency remain paramount for public trust.
Last year, the report on the Central Bank’s work indicated that a Duma session would address its findings on April 9. The planned hearing signaled Parliament’s ongoing interest in the central bank’s governance and its operational readiness to adjust policy if warranted by new information. Observers noted that such meetings often become a barometer of economic sentiment and a flashpoint for debate about monetary policy, currency movements, and inflation trajectories. (Interface)
On March 19, Ilya Fedorov, chief economist at BCS World Investments, estimated that the policy rate in 2025 could range from 13 percent to 23 percent. His forecast reflects the wide array of scenarios that traders and policymakers monitor, given uncertainties in inflation persistence, exchange rate dynamics, and growth prospects. At the start of the year, the Bank of Russia signaled a sharp decrease in inflation expectations among Russians, a development that could influence future rate decisions and market expectations.