Russian cbank reduces key rate to 7.25% from 7.5%

MOSCOW, Mar 23 (PRIME) -- The board of directors of Russia’s central bank has reduced the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 7.25%, the regulator said in a statement on Friday.

The central bank plans to cut the rate further and to move completely to a neutral monetary policy in 2018 as inflation falls below 4%.

The central bank expects annual inflation to amount to 3-4% at the end of 2018 and to stand at around 4% in 2019.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow 1.5-2% annually in 2018-2020 that is in line with the country’s economic potential.

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