Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 9, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Russia's central bank will consider gasoline price rises in interest rate decisions, impacting inflation expectations. Next decision is on October 24.
By Elena Fabrichnaya
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) -Russia's central bank will take into account a spike in gasoline prices and its impact on people's inflationary expectations when making decisions on potential interest rate cuts, Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Thursday.
Prices for gasoline, which are tightly monitored by authorities, are up 10.2%, above general inflation, since the start of the year, with the spike in part attributed to a step up in Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.
Reuters calculations in August showed that Ukrainian attacks and maintenance works reduced Russian oil refining by almost a fifth on certain days. Russia extended a ban on exports of gasoline to keep domestic prices under control.
Nabiullina said gasoline was one of the "marker" commodities that impact people's inflationary expectations, an important factor that the central bank's board reviews when making rate decisions.
"The rise in gasoline prices could slow down the decrease in inflation expectations. Unfortunately, they remain at an elevated level for now," Nabiullina said. The board will make its next key rate decision on October 24.
The central bank hiked interest rates to 21% last year, the highest level since the early 2000s, to fight inflation in an overheated economy. It has cut rates to 17% in several moves this year, saying that inflation is slowing.
Nabiullina said the spike in gasoline prices was a "one-off" event that would not have a sustained impact on overall inflation. She said that the central bank still had some room to lower rates further this year.
"Currently, the decisions for the remainder of the year are not predetermined. Everything will depend on the development of the economic situation," Nabiullina said.
(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya. Editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Potter)
Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rises, eroding purchasing power.
A central bank is a national institution that manages a country's currency, money supply, and interest rates.
Interest rates are the cost of borrowing money, expressed as a percentage of the amount borrowed, typically charged by lenders.
Monetary policy is the process by which a central bank controls the supply of money, often targeting inflation or interest rates.
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