The economist allowed a reduction in the key rate to 20%

Igor Balynin, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, allowed the key interest rate to be reduced to 20%.

According to him, in an interview with aif.ru On Thursday, April 24, the chances that the Central Bank of Russia will lower its key rate from 21% to 20% or leave it at the same level are approximately equal. The regulator, in his opinion, will exercise great caution when making a decision.

"I believe that the option of increasing the key rate will not be considered, as of today, in my opinion, there are no prerequisites for this," Balynin said.

He explained that if the key rate is lowered, banks will respond promptly and reduce deposit and loan rates in proportion to the dynamics of the key rate.

"We are clearly on the verge of switching to monetary policy easing, and a signal for further decisions will be important for banks when setting rates," the economist noted.

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The average yield decreased to 19% — what does this mean for the April decision on the key

Earlier in the day, VTB CEO Andrey Kostin admitted the possibility of lowering the Central Bank's key rate by the end of 2025. According to him, it is expected that the current indicator will remain high for a long time, writes NSN. He expressed the opinion that the rate may decrease, for example, to 19%. Kostin added that over the next two years, the key rate will remain at a fairly high level, but at the same time it will steadily decrease, the website notes. kp.ru .