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Central Bank may reduce key rate to 7%

Earlier, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the key rate would not increase, only its slower decline is possible

ST. PETERSBURG, May 25. /TASS/. Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov believes that the Russian Central Bank will reduce the key rate at the next meeting of the Board of Directors to 7%, he said in an interview with TASS at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"I believe that the Central Bank has all the possibilities to reduce the key rate, inflation is below 2.5%, the target level is 4%. Especially since deflationary processes are still in progress, so the Central Bank could reduce the key rate. But they should do it carefully, gradually - they might reduce it to 7%," he said.

Aksakov said that the key rate may be reduced to 7% at the next meeting of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, which will be held on June 15.

First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Ksenia Yudaeva said earlier that the Russian Central Bank sees factors both for maintaining the key rate at the current level, and for reducing it at the next meeting of the Board of Directors.

"It is too early to discuss any probabilities, just factors that may influence this decision. Of course there are factors that support keeping the rate at the same level, and there are factors in favor of decreasing it," she said.

Earlier, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said that, according to the Central Bank forecast, the key rate would not increase, only its slower decline is possible. Currently the key rate is at 7.25% per annum. At the last meeting on April 27, the regulator decided not to reduce it.