MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia improved the forecast for the growth of lending to individuals and companies in 2023, as well as the forecast for mortgage lending in Russia, the regulator said following the meeting of the Board of Directors on Friday.

Thus, the forecast for the growth of lending to companies for 2023 was increased to 12-16% from 9-13% earlier, to the population - to 15-19% from 11-15%. The forecast for the growth of mortgage lending in Russia for 2023 was increased to 17-21% from the previous 13-17%.

In addition, the Bank of Russia maintained its forecast for the growth of mortgage lending in Russia for 2024-2025 at the level of 10-15%. In 2026, the regulator also expects it to reach 10-15%.

Earlier on Friday, the Bank of Russia has sharply increased its key rate after a long pause by 1 percentage point to 8.5% per annum, noting reinforced inflationary pressure in the economy. "On 21 July 2023, the Bank of Russia Board of Directors decided to increase the key rate by 100 basis points to 8.50% per annum. Current price growth rates, including a variety of underlying indicators, have exceeded 4% in annualized terms and are still on the rise. The increase in the domestic demand surpasses the capacity to expand production, including due to the limited availability of labor resources. This reinforces persistent inflationary pressure in the economy," the regulator said.

The Bank of Russia added that it holds open the prospect of further key rate increase at its next meetings to stabilize inflation close to 4% in 2024 and further on.