Russia’s Monetary Policy in June 2018: Higher Inflation Risks to Increase

Alexandra Bozhechkova – Head of Monetary Policy Department of the Gaidar Institute; Senior Research fellow of the Center for the Study of Central Banks, Institute for Applied Economic Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences. Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Pavel Trunin – Head of Center for Macroeconomics and Finance of the Gaidar Institute; Leading Research fellow of the Center for the Study of Central Banks, Institute for Applied Economic Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences. Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Bank of Russia decided in June to keep the key interest rate unchanged because of worsening geopolitical uncertainty, capital outflows from developing countries as a consequence of tighter US Fed’s monetary policy, plans to raise the VAT rate, as well as prices adjustment to a weaker rouble. In the today’s context, Russia’s central bank may postpone its monetary policy easing until next year.

Key words: inflation, monetary policy, key rate, outflow of capital, Bank of Russia.