Russia lowers interest rates to 20% in first cut since 2022 as inflation pressures ease

Russia's central bank on Friday cut its sky-high interest rates for the first time since September 2022, in a sign that inflation pressures — not long ago described by President Vladimir Putin as “alarming” — are beginning to ease.

The Bank of Russia took rates down by 100 basis points to 20%. They had been held at 21% since last October, the highest level since the new benchmark rate was introduced in 2013.

The seasonally-adjusted inflation in April was 6.2%, it said, down from an average 8.2% across the first quarter of 2025.

“While domestic demand growth is still outstripping the capabilities to expand the supply of goods and services, the Russian economy is gradually returning to a balanced growth path,” the central bank said Friday, adding that monetary policy would remain tight “for a long period” in order to return inflation to its 4% target.