On September 13, the Russian Central Bank raised the key policy rate to 19% per annum for the eighth time. This level has been achieved only once in the last 20 years – in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when Moscow fell under pressure from numerous sanctions. The Central Bank of Russia considered raising the interest rate to 20% and may do so at the next meeting.
Russia has already caught up with bankrupt states and third world countries such as Zimbabwe (20%) and Lebanon (20%). Such rates act as economic shock therapy. August’s official inflation results from Rosstat amounted to 9.05%, and compared to July, inflation slowed for the first time in more than a year.
The central bank’s actions are a desperate step to prevent a loss of control and prevent sliding into inflation of 20% or higher. However, the conditions for such a crisis have been created by trillion-dollar infusions into defense, which form a canopy of money supply not backed by goods.