By Olesya Astakhova
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) -German Gref, CEO of Russia’s dominant lender Sberbank, said on Thursday that the country’s economy had reached technical “stagnation” and said he hoped the central bank would not allow it to plunge into recession.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told President Vladimir Putin last week that Russia’s economic growth is expected to slow to 1.5% in 2025, far below the earlier 2.5% forecast, as high interest rates imposed to reduce inflation have stifled borrowing.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in the city of Vladivostok, Sberbank CEO Gref also said that the expected rate cuts to 14% by year-end from the current 18% were not enough to revive the economy.
“It is important to move out of this period of controlled cooling of the economy so that it does not turn into stagnation, because reviving the economy will be much more difficult than cooling it down,” he said.
“At current inflation levels, the rate at which we can hope for economic recovery is 12% or lower. So somewhere around these levels, we will most likely see economic recovery.”
Central bank will hold a rate-setting meeting on September 12.
(Reporting by Olesya Astakhova and Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Jamie Freed and Sonali Paul)
