MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia does not rule out maintaining the key rate at the current level until the end of the year if inflation remains at the current level, head of the regulator, Elvira Nabiullina, said at a press conference following a meeting of the board of directors of the regulator.
"If disinflation is too slow, we do not rule out maintaining the current key rate until the end of the year," she said.
The Bank of Russia also does not rule out raising the estimate of the neutral key rate in the near future. "In it (an alternative macro forecast scenario - TASS), the growth in demand for goods and services will continue to significantly exceed the possibilities for expanding production. Such overheating will be signaled by the rapid expansion of consumer activity and lending, increased rigidity of the labor market. All this will affect the dynamics inflation and inflation expectations. As a result, if the disinflation process stops, we do not rule out an increase in the key rate," Nabiullina concluded.