MOSCOW: The Russian rouble gave up early gains to weaken on Friday after the central bank raised interest rates by an expected 100 basis points to 16% and said its policy tightening cycle was nearing an end.
The bank’s decision, hiking borrowing costs for the fifth consecutive meeting, was forecast by analysts polled by Reuters, as Russia grapples with inflation pressure exacerbated by labour shortages and lending growth.
By 1320 GMT, the rouble was 0.4% weaker against the dollar at 90.20, moving away from a near two-week high hit in the previous session.
It had lost 0.1% to trade at 98.87 versus the euro and was unchanged at 12.66 against the yuan .
“We do not rule out that today’s hike may be the last in the current cycle and the regulator will start lowering the rate in the spring,” said Alor Broker’s Alexei Antonov.
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