China News Agency, Moscow, April 29 (Reporter Tian Bing) The Central Bank of Russia announced on the 29th that it will cut the benchmark interest rate from 17% to 14%.

This is the second time this month that the Bank of Russia has cut its benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points.

　　The Russian central bank issued a statement on its official website that day, pointing out that the board of directors of the Russian central bank decided to cut the benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points to 14%.

The external environment of the Russian economy remains complex, severely restricting economic activity.

At the same time, risks to prices and financial stability are no longer rising, creating the conditions for a cut in benchmark interest rates.

Recent weekly data suggest that current price growth is slowing as the ruble strengthens and consumer activity cools.

　　The Central Bank of Russia said that the efficiency of import substitution and the scale and speed of resumption of imports of finished products, raw materials and components are important factors affecting further price changes.

The Bank of Russia's monetary policy will take into account the need for economic structural adjustment to ensure that inflation returns to the target level in 2024.

　　According to the Russian central bank's forecast, Russia's inflation rate will be between 18%-23% in 2022, will drop to 5%-7% in 2023, and will return to the target level of 4% in 2024.

In 2022, Russia's GDP will decline by 8%-10%, in 2023 GDP may decline by 0%-3%, and in 2024 GDP is expected to increase by 2.5%-3.5%.

　　Nabiullina, governor of the Russian Central Bank, said at a press conference that day that the decision to sharply raise the benchmark interest rate to 20% at the end of February this year was a measure to deal with the crisis, mainly to reduce financial stability risks.

Since the beginning of April, the Russian financial sector has stabilized, which means that the premium that was necessary to ward off risks can be removed from the benchmark interest rate.

At the same time, inflationary pressures have gradually stabilized after a surge in early March, although the current pressures are still high, and the inflation trend has also given the opportunity to ease policy.

She stressed that lowering the benchmark interest rate would help the economy adjust its structure without creating inflation risks.

She also said the central bank was considering easing foreign exchange restrictions in the future.

　　After Russia announced a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, the United States and the West imposed a series of large-scale sanctions on Russia, the ruble depreciated sharply, and Russia took a series of measures to stabilize the market.

The Central Bank of Russia issued a statement on February 28, announcing that it would raise the benchmark interest rate by 10.5 percentage points to 20% from 9.5%.

Since then, the ruble exchange rate has gradually strengthened and stabilized, and has returned to the level before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

The Central Bank of Russia announced on April 8 that it will cut the benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points from 20% to 17% from April 11.

　　It is reported that the next meeting of the board of directors of the Russian central bank is scheduled to be held on June 10, and the meeting will continue to consider the level of the benchmark interest rate.

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