The Russian Central Bank’s board of directors has voted to cut the country’s key interest rate by 100 basis points, lowering it to 20 percent per annum, the Bank said in a statement.
“Current inflationary pressure — including underlying pressure — continues to ease,” the statement said. “While domestic demand still outpaces the ability to expand the supply of goods and services, the Russian economy is gradually returning to a path of balanced growth.”
The Central Bank said it would maintain “the level of monetary policy tightness necessary to bring inflation back to its target in 2026.” That, it added, implies a prolonged period of tight monetary policy. Future rate decisions, the Bank said, will depend on “how quickly and sustainably inflation and inflation expectations decline.”
The Central Bank expects annual inflation to return to its four percent target in 2026.
This is the Bank’s first rate cut since September 2022, when it lowered the benchmark from 8 percent to 7.5 percent. The rate was subsequently raised several times, reaching 21 percent in October 2024 — the highest level in modern Russian history. It had remained unchanged for four consecutive meetings, including the most recent in April 2025.