The Russian Central Bank would soften its monetary policy if inflation was lower than previewed by the bank in the forecasting timeframe, Alexei Zabotkin, the director of the bank's monetary policy department, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2019) The Russian Central Bank would soften its monetary policy if inflation was lower than previewed by the bank in the forecasting timeframe, Alexei Zabotkin, the director of the bank's monetary policy department, told Sputnik.
"This will depend on the situation in the economy and the evolution of forecast. If conditions are in place for inflation to be steadily lower than our target in the forecasting timeframe, it will give us the reason to consider easing monetary and credit policy. But this is not the case at the moment," Zabotkin said.
In October, the central bank lowered the key rate by 0.5 percentage points to 6.5 percent. The next meeting of the central bank board, where the key rate will be discussed, is scheduled for December 13.
The Ministry of the Economic Development expects inflation in Russia to be between 3 and 3.3 percent in 2019. The central bank's estimate is between 3.2 and 3.7 percent, while its target is close to 4 percent.
