The Russian Central Bank has raised the re-financing rate by 0.25%, making it 8%, from February 28. It is the first change of the re-financing rate since December 2008. The obligatory reserve norms will be increased on March 1 by 0.5-1%, depending on the bank, RIA Novosti cites the PR and foreign links service of the bank as saying.
The obligatory reserves for non-resident legal bodies was raised from 3.5% to 4.5%, other obligations – from 3.0% to 3.5%.
The decision was based on the high inflation rate and investment flow to Russia over high prices for oil on the world markets. The decision on raising obligatory reserves was made in late January. The deposit rate was raised by 0.25% in late December.
