“The Russian Central Bank accelerates interest rate reduction due to the cooling of the war economy. The second reduction in two months reduces loan costs to 18 percent.” – informs the” Financial Times “. For comparison, in the euro area the main interest rate is at a level of just over 2 percent, and in Poland – it is 5 percent.
It means Cutting by 2 percentage points. In the world, these types of movements are usually made on a much smaller scale – by 0.25 or 0.5 percentage points. However, this is not a surprise for economists who were counting on a reduction.
The Russian economy slows down, inflation gives up, so you can lower interest rates
“Russian economic growth finally began to slow down after the period of expansion in the years 2023–2024, when huge expenses for the army and stable oil exports helped the country oppose Western sanctions and forecasts of economic breakdown. At the same time, inflation also fell, which allowed the Central Bank to further reduce the record high basic interest rate, which in October last year, which in October reached the level of 21 percent. ” – writes “FT”.
“If you look at the latest dynamics, inflationary pressure really weakened,” admitted Wasily Astrow, an economist from the Vienna Institute of International Economic Studies. “There are many arguments for further lowering the interest rate, and really little for keeping it at the current level“.
High interest rates in Russia have become a problem
For months, Russian corporations and enterprises, as well as competitive government agencies, have pressure on the central bank to lower interest rates, arguing that They became too high for borrowers.
There have already been reports that some Russian lenders are struggling with the growing level of endangered loans, which fuels discussions on the general stability of the national banking sector.
Experts forecast that In autumn, the Russian Central Bank can make two or more interest rates.
