Summary of the Key Rate Discussion released
The publication covers the main aspects of the discussion about the economic situation and inflation, monetary and external conditions, and alternatives to the key rate decision.
The discussants noted that although inflation was high, an environment conducive to its deceleration was emerging. The expansion in lending was slowing down, the growth rate of consumer demand slightly declined, and the portion of enterprises experiencing labour shortages was contracting. Tight monetary policy and factors that are not associated with it (scheduled cancellation of easing in banking regulation and macroprudential policy tightening) will continue influencing lending dynamics. However, there is still uncertainty regarding their combined effect. The participants in the discussion agreed that more time would be required to evaluate further changes in lending in this context.
Following the discussion, the Board of Directors kept the key rate at 21.00% per annum. Nevertheless, the meeting decided to repeat the signal about the need to assess whether the key rate should be raised further at the upcoming meeting.
The updated medium-term forecast assumes that for inflation to go down to the target of close to 4% in 2026, the key rate path for