Bank of Russia: Hike, not to hold is right. Time is of the essence
smartmoney.oneAt its second rate-setting meeting, Russia's central bank embarked on a monetary tightening cycle for the first time since 2018.The CBR opted for a minimum rate increase step, by raising it by 25 bps to 4.5%.
Economists were roughly evenly split on whether the central bank will deliver a 25 bps hike or keep the rate.Most analysts in a Bloomberg survey predicted a hold.We estimated the odds of tightening as 50/50.The move follows a larger-than-expected 75 bps hike in Brazil (most economists predicted a half-point increase) and a surprising 200 bps hike in Turkey (most economists predicted a 100 bps increase) which eventually led to the replacement of CBRT governor.