OREANDA-NEWS  Following the meeting of the Board of Directors, the Central Bank of Russia decided to keep the key rate at 7.5 percent per annum. This is stated in a press release on the regulator's website.

Monetary policy easing stopped at the end of October, when, after six consecutive key rate cuts, the Central Bank left the parameter unchanged.

The regulator indicated that for a month and a half, the inflation expectations of the population and business remain at the same level, but pro-inflationary risks have increased and are dominated by disinflationary ones. These circumstances are associated with the growth of problems in the labor market, the deterioration of foreign trade conditions and the easing of fiscal policy.

The regulator intends to make further decisions on the rate taking into account the actual and expected dynamics of inflation, the process of structural adjustment of the economy and taking into account risks from internal and external conditions, as well as the reaction of financial markets to them.

As part of the current forecast of the Central Bank, the monetary policy will reduce annual inflation to 5-7 percent in 2023, and to 4 percent in 2024.