Russia's central bank is taking action with an interest rate hike of 2 percentage points to a record high of 21 percent – higher than when it was raised in connection with President Vladimir Putin's order for a full-scale attack on neighboring country Ukraine in 2022.
Rapid price increases in the Russian economy are behind the tightening.
The hike was larger than expected. Most analysts had expected a 1 percentage point increase to 20 percent, according to a compilation of forecasts by Bloomberg.
Inflation in the Russian economy is more than twice as high as the central bank's target of 4 percent and inflation expectations point to even higher inflation.
