The Russian Central Bank raises interest rates to support the ruble

Russia's central bank raised its key interest rate by 350 basis points to 12% in an emergency move to try to halt the ruble's recent slide following a public call from the Kremlin to tighten monetary policy.

The economic advisor to President Vladimir Putin, Maxim Oreshkin, had rebuked the central bank and blamed what he described as its soft monetary policy for weakening the ruble, as the Kremlin's public criticism of its monetary policy adds more pressure as Russia heads towards presidential elections in March 2024.

The bank said in a statement that “in the event of strengthening the pro-inflationary risks, an additional increase in the main price is possible,” and the bank stated that in terms of annual conditions on a seasonally adjusted basis, the current price growth during the past three months reached an average of 7.6%.

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