MOSCOW: The Russian central bank is sticking to its plan to trim rates further as the economy and the financial system have already adapted to the latest US sanctions, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said in a CNBC interview released on Thursday.
The central bank held rates in April, having cut them from 17 per cent at the end of 2014 to 7.25 per cent in March, as fresh US sanctions on Moscow battered the rouble, boosting concerns about geopolitical tensions.
Nabiullina said the central bank was still on track this year to trim the key rate, now at 7.25 per cent, to a range of between six and seven per cent, the level at which its monetary policy is considered to be neutral.
Nabiullina said the central bank took into account geopolitical risks when making decisions and fully understood that uncertainty has increased.
“I have to say that the Russian economy and the Russian financial system have adapted pretty quickly to the latest wave of economic sanctions,” Nabiullina said, according to the English transcript of the interview.
In April, the United States imposed major new sanctions against Russian individuals and major companies. They targeted allies of President Vladimir Putin in one of Washington’s most aggressive moves to punish Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 US election and other “malign activity.”
—Reuters
