The Central Bank has forecast inflation in the first quarter of 2025 below February expectations

Inflation in the first quarter of 2025 is below the February expectations. This was stated on April 2 by Alexey Zabotkin, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, during a speech in the State Duma.

"If the picture for March is the same as the weekly data show, then we can say that in the first quarter as a whole, inflation is even slightly lower than the forecast that the Bank of Russia published on February 14, after the previous reference meeting," TASS quoted him as saying.

According to Zabotkin, despite the slowdown in inflationary processes, the price growth rate remains above the target level of 4% set by the Central Bank. In this regard, it is necessary to continue to pursue a tight monetary policy in order to return inflation to low levels.

In addition, according to him, a reduction in the key interest rate is possible only after inflation shows a steady downward trend.

Delayed impact: inflation will start to decrease only by autumn

Why are experts not as positive as the Central Bank in its last review before the "week of silence"?

On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to contain inflation and ensure low unemployment in the country. He noted that the Russian government will continue to build mechanisms for the entire economic policy, including monetary policy. This is necessary in order for them to work to increase the country's production potential.