MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. Russian banks may add around 1 trillion rubles ($11 bln) to the country’s budget by the end of 2023, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said at a press conference following the regulator’s board meeting.

"Many Russian banks are state-owned, which means they pay dividends. All banks pay taxes and dividends. According to our projections, banks may add almost 1 trillion rubles to the budget this year," she said.

Earlier on Friday, the board of directors of the Bank of Russia raised its key rate from 15% to 16% per annum at this year’s last meeting, noting that the return of inflation to target in 2024 assume that tight monetary conditions will be maintained in the economy for a long period. Meanwhile the regulator maintained its inflation forecast for 2023 at 7-7.5%, expecting it close to the upper bound of the range. Given the monetary policy stance, annual inflation will decline to 4.0-4.5% in 2024 and stay close to 4% further on.