Russia: Putin proposes renewal of Nabiulina’s term at central bank

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed renewing the term of Russia’s central bank chief Elvira Nabiulina for another four years.

The lower house (Duma) will consider the proposal on March 21, according to its website.

Nabiulina, the country’s first female central banker, economist and former Putin adviser, was appointed in 2013, much to her surprise.

Her current term ends in June, and the rules stipulate that Putin must choose the same or another candidate by March 24.

The central bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 20% today following a sharp one-year rate hike in late February to support financial stability.

The central bank raised interest rates from 9.5% to 20% on February 28 as the ruble collapsed to historic lows and people rushed to withdraw money from banks following an unprecedented barrage of Western sanctions against Russia.

Analysts predict that inflation this month will reach 20% and there will be a recession of 8%, while they predicted that the average key interest rate will reach 18.9% in 2022.

Prior to the military intervention, the central bank revised its year-end inflation forecast to 5% -6%, abandoning previous hopes that it would slow to 4% -4.5%.

Source: Capital

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