The Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia will consider monetary policy issues, including the level of the key rate.

Most analysts, after the sharp increase in the Central Bank rate at the end of February, expect it to remain at 20% on Friday. Only some experts allow the Central Bank to raise the rate to 23-25%.

The Bank of Russia at an extraordinary meeting on February 28, 2022 raised the key rate from 9.5% immediately to 20% per annum against the background of a sharp increase in inflation risks due to the introduction of tough sanctions against Russia and the subsequent collapse of financial markets.

Inflation in Russia from March 5 to 11, according to Rosstat, amounted to 2.09% after 2.22% from February 26 to March 4. Such a significant weekly increase in prices, caused by the imposed sanctions and the weakening of the ruble against the background of the special operation in Ukraine, which began on February 24, is the maximum since 1998.

Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 12.5% on March 11 (the highest since December 2015) from 10.4% on March 4, 9.2% at the end of February, 8.7% at the end of January 2022 and 8.4% at the end of December 2021.