MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia may start lowering its key rate next year provided there are no new shocks, the regulator’s Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.

"We believe that our policy will allow bringing inflation down to 4.5-5%. As it slows down, we will consider a gradual reduction of the key rate as well. If there are no additional external shocks, of course, the decline will start next year," she said at a plenary session in the State Duma (lower house of the parliament).

In October, the Bank of Russia sharply raised the key rate by 2 percentage points to a record level of 21% per annum. It did not rule out the possibility of its further increase at the next meeting, saying that further tightening of monetary policy is required to ensure the return of inflation to the target and reduce inflation expectations.

The regulator also downgraded its inflation outlook for 2024 to 8-8.5% from 6.5-7%. The Central Bank expects annual inflation in Russia to decline to 4.5-5% in 2025 and to 4% in 2026.