The Russian economy is already overcooled, it is necessary to lower the key rate, chairman of Sberbank's board of directors German Gref said at the annual meeting of Sberbank's shareholders.
"What we see today, in my opinion, is quite obvious - we have already overcooled the economy. And the rate needs to be lowered," Gref said.
He believes that "the economy cannot exist for long at extremely high rates".
"And our real rates are around 10%; that is, the Central Bank of Russia's policy rate minus current inflation. And 10% is a rate that can be applied in the short term in order to cool the economy," Gref said.
