Central Bank speaking optimistically about pace of Russia's economy recovering to pre-crisis levels
MOSCOW. May 27 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has begun speaking more optimistically about the prospects of Russia's economy recovering to pre-crisis levels, reflecting improved GDP dynamics relative to the forecasts of the first few months of the year.
"Loose monetary policy has already provided fully the necessary contribution to creating conditions for economic recovery," Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina told the State Duma on Thursday.
"We expect Russia's GDP to return to pre-pandemic levels in the second half of this year, perhaps by the middle of the year," Nabiullina said.
The CBR until recently had spoken less definitively, not using the word "mid-year".
"We expect Russia's GDP to return to pre-pandemic levels already in the second half of the year," Central Bank Deputy Governor and curator of the regulator's monetary policy, Alexei Zabotkin, said last week.
The CBR's current forecast envisages GDP growth in 2021 in the range of 3%-4%. Kirill Tremasov, director of the CBR's monetary policy department, in May said that the figure would be closer to 4%.
