2025.04.2510:34:13UTC+00Bank of Russia Leaves Rates On Hold as Expected

On April 25, 2025, the Bank of Russia maintained its key interest rate at an unprecedented level of 21%, in line with market predictions. The central bank acknowledged that while inflationary pressures, including core inflation, are slowly diminishing, they remain high. It also warned that a further deceleration of global economic growth and a decline in oil prices, particularly amidst increasing trade tensions, might exert additional inflationary pressure through fluctuations in the ruble's exchange rate. The central bank anticipates inflation to decrease to between 7.0% and 8.0% in 2025 and to stabilize at 4.0% by 2026. In March, Russia's annual inflation rate climbed to 10.3%. Furthermore, the central bank maintained its economic growth projection for 2025 at 1% to 2%, emphasizing that monetary policy will remain stringent for an extended period to ensure inflation returns to its target level.