Cbanker says Russian economy to recover during several quarters

MOSCOW, Jun 10 (PRIME) -- The central bank expects that the Russian economy will be recovering during several quarters, Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said Wednesday at the State Duma, the parliament’s lower house.

“We all understand that the consequences of the epidemic will not disappear immediately after the restrictions are lifted. In fact, coronavirus has moved the paths along which the economy and the financial system would develop. Now we feel a little more optimistic about the future, regions are easing restrictions, industrial enterprises and trade are starting to work, even service sectors somewhere. But, under our estimates, there are still several quarters of recovery ahead,” she said.

The central bank’s soft monetary policy will allow the economy to quickly return to the potential rates of growth, Nabiullina said.

“A soft monetary policy will support the restoration of domestic demand and will allow the economy to return to its potential faster,” she said.

The central bank sees the possibility of lowering the key rate by more decisive steps, Nabillina also said.

She also said that Russian banks received a record low net profit of 500 million rubles in May. In January–May, banks earned a net profit of 561 billion rubles.

The central bank is developing a platform to assist banks in assessing the reliability of clients and plans to launch it at the end of 2021 or early in 2022, Nabiullina added.

She also said the central bank supports the early adoption of the law on digital financial assets.

(68.6745 rubles – U.S. $1)

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