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Russian Central Bank cuts key rate to 5.5% per annum

© Gavriil Grigorov/TASS

MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia reduced the key rate by 50 basis points at once for the first time since October 2019 to 5.5% per annum, the regulator said in a statement following its board meeting on Friday.

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"On 24 April 2020, the Bank of Russia Board of Directors decided to cut the key rate by 50 bp to 5.50% per annum. Since the March Board of Directors meeting, the situation has changed dramatically. Significant restrictive measures have been introduced to combat the coronavirus pandemic both in Russia and across the world, which negatively influences economic activity," the statement said.

This creates material and prolonged disinflationary influence on price dynamics from the aggregate demand perspective, which offsets the effect of temporary pro-inflationary factors, including those related to the fall in oil prices, the regulator added.

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