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Leading critics challenge Russian reserve bank, point to China's rate cuts

The Russian reserve bank's. self-reliance is set to be tested as it prepares to hike interest. rates on Friday in the middle of growing pressure from opponents consisting of. Russia's the majority of prominent business executive Igor Sechin who. states it ought to take cues from China.

A poll of analysts anticipates the regulator will raise. the benchmark rates of interest by 200 basis points to 18% to tame. inflation and cool an overheated economy.

That would be the greatest level because April 2022, when the. rate reached 20% amid market turmoil after the Kremlin sent out. soldiers into Ukraine in what it calls a unique military. operation.

The central bank has currently mentioned that Friday's meeting. will focus on just how much - not whether - it must raise rates, a. stance which prompted a backlash.

Sechin, head of energy huge Rosneft, pointed to. the Chinese reserve bank's surprise move this week to cut. several benchmark rates of interest, portraying it as a goodwill. gesture towards business borrowers focused on improving development.

We expect similar actions for Russian prime customers from. the Bank of Russia, Sechin stated. His comments came during the. silent week ahead of the rate decision, a period when. policymakers generally refrain from public remarks.

His remarks likewise show how Russian markets are. significantly looking to China for policy signals. Before the. military action in Ukraine resulted in a deterioration in relations,. they took their guidance from regulators and markets in the. West, where most of the investment came from.

Under Governor Elvira Nabiullina, the central bank has. kept its independence and its prudent policy has been. applauded by Putin. Experts state that Putin trusts Nabiullina with. financial policy choices.

The Russian central bank asserts that fighting inflation,. presently running at an annual rate of over 9%, and attending to. financial getting too hot are its supreme priorities.

Apart from inflation, Russia has gotten in a wage growth. spiral fuelled by generous payments for volunteers to combat in. Ukraine and defence sector workers. It is also suffering from. severe labour scarcities in many sectors.

The reserve bank's policy has assisted Russia handle the. impact of Western economic sanctions, but critics argue that the. regulator is stifling financial growth, which has just recuperated. to a rate of 5%.

Anatoly Aksakov, the influential head of the lower home of. parliament's banking committee, said that yearly inflation rates. are set to fall in the second part of this year, as they were. greater in the second half of in 2015 than in the very first half.

I hope that this aspect will affect the central bank's. decision. We need relatively inexpensive credit to come to the. economy; we need structural change, he said.

Aksakov, whose committee deals with all financial regulation. needing parliament's approval, argued that in his view, the. central bank might keep rates of interest the same. The current. weekly information revealed a small slowing of inflation rates.

Influential think-tank TsMAKP, which encourages the federal government,. accused the reserve bank of forcing stagnation onto the. economy, stating its policy discourages investment in the genuine. economy.

Unfavorable and systemic risks from such an action

(source: Reuters)