Russia’s central bank cut interest rates for the first time since late 2022, as policymakers fear a red-hot wartime economy could tip into a downturn.
Most of the economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected the bank would lower borrowing costs, which currently stand at a record 21% in order to rein in inflation levels that are more than double the bank’s target.
The bank — which is relatively independent in an otherwise largely centrally directed economy — faces a tricky balancing act: Russia’s economy minister said this week a growing number of industries are in decline, while a report for the EU last month warned that “time is not on Russia’s side.”
AD