Russian central bank governor defends rate cut
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina defended the bank's decision to cut rates on Friday, saying that the monetary loosening would stop an excessive slowdown in the economy.
Nabiullina said in an emailed statement that the rate also remained high enough to allow the central bank to reach its inflation target in the medium term.
"Today's decision to lower the key interest rate by 2 percentage points is intended to balance the goal of curbing inflation and restoring economic growth," the central bank's press service cited Nabiullina as saying.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Oksana Kobzeva; Writing by Lidia Kelly, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
