MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. By raising the key rate, the Bank of Russia protects the incomes of citizens, this is a direct contribution of monetary policy to the fight against poverty, the Bank of Russia Chief Elvira Nabiullina said speaking in the State Duma.

"With a high rate, we protect the real incomes of citizens. This is a direct contribution of monetary policy to the fight against poverty. It is the pockets of people with low incomes inflation gets into the most, in particular because prices for essential goods accelerate first. There were enough such examples last year," she said.

Nabiullina noted that if the regulator had not raised the key rate, inflation would have been much higher than 7.4% that was achieved at the end of last year.

"Moreover, it would continue to accelerate even now," she added.

At its last meeting the board of directors of the Bank of Russia decided to maintain the key rate at 16% per annum. The regulator noted that it may start to lower the key rate in the second half of 2024 if inflation continues to slow down steadily.