Russian Central Bank cuts interest rate from 18% to 17%
The Russian Central Bank announced on Sept. 12 that it had cut its key interest rate for the third time this year, lowering it from 18% to 17%.
The Central Bank has kept raising the interest rate since September 2022, when it stood at 7.5%. By October 2024, the rate had climbed to 21%, the highest in modern Russian history, where it remained through early 2025.
On June 6, the bank implemented its first rate cut in nearly three years, lowering the benchmark to 20% per annum in response to easing inflation and signs of a slowing economy.
According to the Central Bank, current price growth indicators have "remained largely unchanged," while the economy continues to return to a path of "balanced growth."
"In recent months, lending growth has accelerated. Inflation expectations remain high," the statement read.
The move comes days after German Gref, the head of Russia's biggest bank, Sberbank, said that the Central Bank's key interest rate would need to drop closer to 12% to create "hope for an economic recovery."
Most analysts expected the Central Bank to slash the rate to 16%, the BBC's Russian service reported.
In early September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that lowering the Central Bank's key interest rate too quickly could result in rapid price hikes.
A June survey by the independent Russian pollster Levada Center found 58% of Russians listed rising prices as their top concern, while only 33% cited the war against Ukraine.
Russian Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said on Sept. 4 that Russia "pays" for inflation and high key interest rate with a "challenging economic situation."
The downturn highlights the limits of Moscow's war-driven expansion, fueled by record defense spending but undermined by shrinking private consumption and weak civilian investment.
