Russian President Vladimir Putin
Most analysts polled by Reuters expect Russia to raise interest rates by 100 basis points to 16 per cent on December 15 Image Credit: Reuters

Moscow: Russia plans to produce more than 1,000 passenger planes by 2030, President Vladimir Putin told an annual press conference on Thursday.

He added that the Russian market is currently "overloaded" with foreign-made aircraft.

The rouble climbed to a near two-week high on Thursday, approaching the 89 threshold to a weaker dollar after dovish comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve, while the Russian market awaited an expected interest rate hike to 16 per cent on Friday.

The dollar was under pressure on Thursday after the Fed's latest economic projections indicated that the interest rate hike cycle has come to an end and lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024.

Lower capital outflows since October

Ensuring stability and predictability on financial markets is the priority, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, whose decree obliging some exporters to convert a portion of their foreign currency revenues into roubles has reduced capital outflows since October.

The capital controls, which he said were temporary, were needed because Russia now receives limited information about the movement of capital concerning exports.

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"The government and central bank do not see what is happening with the volumes of funds our exporters are making from exports," Putin said.

"We ... have a legitimate desire to see how roubles are accumulated, how they move around, where they go and in what volumes." Putin, who last week said he would run again for election next year, faces numerous economic challenges.

Interest rates to rise

Most analysts polled by Reuters expect Russia to raise interest rates by 100 basis points to 16 per cent on December 15. Inflation pressure exacerbated by labour shortages and lending growth is expected to force the central bank to extend its monetary tightening cycle to one last hike.

"We do not exclude that tomorrow the rouble may undergo a corrective drop on the central bank's setting of a new key rate," Alexei Antonov of Alor Broker said.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 1.8 per cent at $75.62 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were higher.