Russia's central bank ready to raise key rate to curb inflation

Moscow, Nov 16 (IANS) Russia's central bank will be ready to raise the key interest rate again if there are no signs that inflation is slowing down, the bank's Deputy Governor Olga Polyakova said.

"During recent meetings, we raised the key rate by tangible steps, and over the past period we raised the rate by 7.5 percentage points to 15 percent per annum," Xinhua news agency quoted the Governor as saying.

"If necessary, we will be ready to do this again if we do not see signs of a sustainable slowdown in inflation and a cooling of inflation expectations," Polyakova added.

Russia last raised the key interest rate by 2 percentage points to 15 per cent at the end of October amid mounting inflationary pressure.

Back then, the bank also raised its inflation forecast for 2023 to 7 per cent to 7.5 per cent from the previous 6 per cent to 7 per cent, and adjusted the forecast for 2024 to 4 per cent to 4.5 per cent.