Page 81 - RusRPTDec23

current year. The CBR now anticipates annual inflation for 2023 to be in the range of 7-7.5%, marking a full percentage point increase from its prior estimate and considerably surpassing the bank's 4% target.
Achieving the 4% target in the following year will necessitate an extended period of stringent monetary policy. CBR head Elvira Nabiullina has indicated that a rate reduction is unlikely in the near future.
The CBR's next meeting, scheduled for December 15, is expected to result in either the maintenance of the current rate or possibly even a further increase. This marks the CBR's fourth consecutive rate hike, totalling a 750 basis point increase over the past six months, including an emergency hike in August during a period of ruble depreciation and a call from the Kremlin for tighter monetary policy.
Dmitry Pyanov, the first deputy chairman of the VTB Bank Board of Directors, likened the CBR's rate hike to the Battle of Waterloo, asserting that it will "determine the fate" of Russia's financial and banking sectors, much as the Battle of Waterloo determined the fate of Europe, The Bell reported.
81 RUSSIA Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com