MOSCOW (Reuters) - Another key interest rate hike is possible at the central bank's Dec. 20 rate-setting meeting, but such a decision is not pre-determined as the impact of the weaker rouble on inflation will be offset by a slowdown in lending, Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Wednesday.
Analysts polled by Reuters saw the central bank raising its key interest rate by another 200 basis points to 23% after the rouble lost 15% against the U.S. dollar in November, reacting to new U.S. financial sanctions.
"We have signalled that the central bank allows for the possibility of raising the rate, but I want to emphasize that this is not predetermined," Nabiullina told an investment conference in Moscow organised by second largest lender VTB.
She said inflation had not started to slow down yet and its slowing path would continue in 2025 before reaching the central bank's target rate of 4% in 2026. Nabiullina said new data showed that corporate lending was slowing down.
"We have a new pro-inflationary factor, the exchange rate. Price growth remains high, but we can already see from the current data that there is a slowdown in lending, including corporate loans," Nabiullina said.
(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya, writing by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Bernadette Baum)
