Russian Central Bank sees space for key rate cut in 2022 amid deceleration in current price growth - deputy governor

MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) sees room for a key rate cut during 2022 amid substantial deceleration in the current rate of price growth, Central Bank Deputy Governor Alexei Zabotkin told reporters in the State Duma.

"The current rate of price growth has indeed been decelerating substantially, slowing faster than what occurred in 2015; and based on this, we see room for a further cut in the key rate during this year," Zabotkin said.

The State Duma held a joint meeting of a number of economic committees, during which parliament considered the CBR's current monetary policy, as well as the regulator's actions on overcoming the sanctions restrictions.

Zabotkin noted that the deputies expressed their opinions on how the CBR could amend the monetary policy in the latest conditions.

"We tried to explain our position that even under the latest conditions, in no way should we lose sight of steering monetary policy toward the main goal of namely maintaining price stability," the deputy governor said.

The Central Bank cut the key rate by 300 basis points to 14% per annum on April 29. The regulator noted at the time that it saw room for a key rate cut in 2022 if the situation developed in line with the baseline forecast. Prior to this, the regulator had also cut the key rate by 300 bps to 17% pa on April 8. The CBR raised the rate sharply from 9.5% pa to 20% pa on February 28 in response to growth in devaluation and inflation risks. The regulator retained the key rate at 20% following its March meeting.