At its monthly meeting today, Russia’s central bank (CBR) is set to cut rates again. In the opinion of economists at Commerzbank, the rate cut is unlikely to weigh on the rouble.

CBR to continue taking interest rates down

“CBR will likely lower its benchmark rate by 50 bps to reflect slowing inflation and the (relatively) strong rouble exchange rate.”

“A rate cut is unlikely to have any adverse implication for the isolated rouble exchange rate. Why then not a larger cut? CBR has issued a rather hawkish assessment of the inflation outlook recently, which makes this prospect slim.”