OREANDA-NEWS Following the September meeting, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Russia may continue its policy of easing monetary policy in the summer. This forecast was given by financial market analyst Andrey Barkhota, quoted by RTVI.
The expert did not rule out the possibility that the leadership of the Russian regulator would decide to reduce the key rate by 200 basis points at once, from the current 18 to 16 percent per annum. According to him, this scenario looks extremely realistic.
The consumer credit sector, which has cooled sufficiently, may push the Central Bank to sharply weaken the PREP, Barkhota added. The annual dynamics in this segment is in the negative zone. Another factor may be the continued slowdown in consumer price growth in the country. If the key interest rate is not lowered soon, the expert warned, the Russian economy may face too deep a recession.
The Central Bank's leadership has repeatedly lowered the key rate: first from a record 21 percent to 20, and at the end of July -- by another two percentage points, to 18 percent per annum. The regulator called a steady slowdown in inflation and its approach to the target target set at 4 percent the main condition for further weakening of the PREP. By August 25, inflation in Russia, according to Rosstat, amounted to 8.46 percent in annual terms. The next meeting of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank is scheduled for September 12.