Moscow - Saba:
The Central Bank of Russia has maintained its key interest rate at 21% on Friday.
The bank affirmed in a statement that "the current monetary policy creates the appropriate conditions for returning inflation to the target level of 4% by 2026."
However, it stressed that any insufficient slowdown in the pace of inflation may require further monetary tightening.
According to the Bank of Russia's forecasts, and given the monetary policy stance, annual inflation will decline to between 7.0% and 8.0% in 2025, then return to 4.0% in 2026, remaining at the target level for a longer period.
In January and February, the seasonally adjusted current price growth rate declined to 9.1% annually, down from 12.0% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The corresponding core inflation rate averaged 10.2%, down from 12.1% in the previous quarter.
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