MOSCOW, September 11. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia does not plan to keep the key rate at a level the economy cannot bear for long, the regulator’s Governor Elvira Nabiullina said, adding that this would push unemployment up and put pressure on real incomes.
"In any case, we will not keep the interest rate for a long time at a level that is, as they say, unbearable for the economy. Why? If the rate's level is unbearable, it will quickly lead to a cyclical downturn, which means growth of unemployment, declining real incomes, and a drop in underlying inflation below the Central Bank’s targets," she told a press conference following the regulator’s board meeting.
The Bank of Russia will ease its monetary policy and lower the key rate within the framework of its inflation-targeting policy, anticipating such a turn of events rather than waiting for it to unfold, Nabiullina noted.
Earlier, the regulator decided to keep the key rate at 14% per annum, noting that current price pressures have increased in recent months.