(Reuters) -Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and deputy governor Alexei Zabotkin gave a news conference after the central bank cut its key rate by half a point to 7.5% on Friday.
The central bank officials spoke in Russian. The quotes below were translated into English by Reuters.
NABIULLINA ON FUTURE RATE CHANGES
“As we are close to the end of the easing cycle, we accept that the next step, as well as keeping the rate, could be a hike. However, we do not rule out a rate cut either.”
“We really think that the room for a further rate cut is shrinking.”
“Of course, we will look at the data, we cannot rule out some other movements, but the likelihood of a rate cut has decreased.”
NABIULLINA ON RATE CUT
“We assess that we are in the zone of a neutral monetary policy.”
“We considered three options – a cut of 25 basis points, a cut of 50 basis points, and keeping the rate unchanged.”
NABIULLINA ON INFLATION
“We do not rule out that annual inflation in first-half 2023 will be below 4%.”
“We see that one-time disinflationary factors are gradually losing their strength, while inflationary risks are growing.”
“People are now more inclined to save than to spend.”
“We are concerned that inflation expectations remain high.”
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kevin Liffey)
