Russian rouble steadies before central bank rate meeting

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble steadied on Friday ahead of the central bank's rate-setting meeting that could give impetus to the Russian currency and bonds and shed light on the bank's monetary policy outlook.

At 0717 GMT, the rouble was little changed on the day at 73.74 against the dollar, hovering near the peak of 73.60 hit on Thursday, the strongest level since early July.

Versus the euro, the rouble was flat at 86.79.

The central bank's rate decision, due at 1030 GMT, and a new set of economic forecasts are in focus. Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina will present the decision at a news conference at 1200 GMT.

Russian rouble falls to fresh six-month low vs dollar

The majority of analysts polled by Reuters this week said they expected the central bank to deliver its sharpest rate hike since 2014 and bring the key rate to 6.5% from 5.5%.

But other experts said the central bank could announce a smaller rate increase of 50 or 75 basis points.

"Our macro team expects a 50bp key rate hike today, which is already priced in by the OFZ market, in our view. We think that a more hawkish outcome could spoil the sentiment in the debt market," VTB Capital said.

Russia needs higher rates to tame consumer inflation with more expensive lending and increased appeal for bank deposits. Higher rates also support the rouble by spurring demand for Russia's high-yielding assets.

On the flip side, move expensive lending hampers economic recovery.

Russian stock indexes were little moved.

The dollar-denominated RTS index inched 0.2% higher to 1,603.6 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was flat at 3,754.5 points.