As the trend towards a sustainable decline
in consumer price growth takes root, the Bank of Russia will consider an opportunity of cutting the key rate in the first half of 2017,» the central bank said in a statement.
The Bank of Russia
said consumer price growth is slowing down due to temporary factors and that the pace of inflation reduction continues to be «unstable».
Broader inflation data painted a similar picture:
core consumer price growth for July was 0.1 % month - on - month — falling short of consensus estimates and marking the fourth consecutive monthly rise of 0.1 % — to leave the annual rate unchanged at 1.7 %.
This implies softer than expected inflation in coming quarters,
with consumer price growth moderating before returning to the Bank's 2 per cent target by the end of 2013.