CBR to continue changing monetary policy carefully, balancing curbing inflation and sustainable growth

ALMATY. Nov 14 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) will continue to take a careful approach to changing monetary policy, balancing between reducing inflation and ensuring sustainable economic growth rates, Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said at a finance conference in Kazakhstan.

"We pursued a tight monetary policy. We've been easing it somewhat since summer, doing so carefully, cautiously. The challenge for us is to pass between Scylla and Charybdis, as they very often say [in Russia], lower inflation, but understanding that growth must transition from very high rates to balanced growth rates," Nabiullina said.

The CBR believes a balanced GDP growth rate is in the range of 1.5-2.5%.

"Now we see how massive the amount of investment has been in recent years, including in automation, in growth of labor productivity, which could increase the potential of the economy, the potential rate of economic growth. And our objective, together with the government - and we're working very closely together - to really ensure balanced rates of economic growth, long-term economic stability and low inflation," Nabiullina said.

The CBR began lowering its key interest rate in the summer of 2025, cutting it by 100 basis points to 20% in July. The rate was then lowered another 200 points to 18% in July, 100 points to 17% in September and 50 points to 16.5% in October.