Central bank head hints at rates raise on Friday
2011-04-26 18:38:41
The Russian central bank may raise its rates at a board meeting on Friday, First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Monday.
"I see an upside potential: maybe yes or maybe no," he said.
The last time the central bank raised its refinancing rate was in February, when it increased it to 8 percent from a historically low 7.75 percent.
Russian inflation has hit 4.1 percent so far, whilst the government is aiming for 6-7 percent inflation this year.
At the previous board meeting at the end of March, the central bank left its key refinancing rate and rates of its operations unchanged, but increased reserve requirements by 0.5-1 percentage points from April 1.
Required reserves of banks' liabilities to non-resident companies increased to 5.5 percent from 4.5 percent and all other liabilities to 4 percent from 3.5 percent.