© Reuters. Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of Russian Central Bank, speaks to the media during the conference “10 years of the Megaregulator: yesterday, today, tomorrow” in Moscow, Russia September 1, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina gave a press conference on Friday after the central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 16%.
Nabiullina spoke in Russian. The quotes below were translated into English by Reuters.
NABIULLINA ON THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY
“The inflation slowdown will gradually cool down inflationary expectations.”
“The economy is in the investment stage of growth, providing a high level of economic activity.”
“The labour shortage has become a serious bottleneck, the tensions on the labour market are rising.”
“Yes, lower interest rates on loans could boost nominal demand, both on the investment and consumption sides, but if there are no available resources in the economy, this will not increase output and will only lead to price growth.”
“We do not yet see that the situation on the fuel market could significantly influence our inflation forecast.”
“…The peak of overheating has passed but still the growth of demand continues to exceed the capabilities of supply.”
NABIULLINA ON MONETARY POLICY
“Lending growth is slowing down unevenly. Mortgage lending growth has slowed, but consumer lending growth remains high.”
“Exports are recovering but secondary sanctions hinder this process.”
“Monetary conditions will need to remain tight for a long time.”
“We have discussed the trajectory of the rate and we will be able to start lowering it when we are convinced the deceleration of inflation is sustainable. In our view, this is more likely to happen in the second half of the year.”
NABIULLINA ON SANCTIONS
“Of course, we are always on alert for the possible strengthening of sanctions, including those against (financial) infrastructure. We are looking at different options together with the (Moscow) exchange in order to ensure that our infrastructure continues to function.”
“Exchanging the frozen funds of Russian investors for those of Western ones would not affect the rouble exchange rate.”
“As for India, Russian banks are actively expanding bilateral settlement channels and are using different currencies.”
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