| Imagery Source: Pexels |
| Information Source: Bank of Russia |
| The ranges of analysts’ forecasts for the next years (see the shaded areas in the charts) have narrowed for most indicators. At the same time, the ranges for the key rate, GDP, exports, imports, trade balance, USD/RUB exchange rate and oil price are widening by the end of the forecast period. |
- Inflation: Analysts have raised the forecasts for 2025–2026 to 6.6% (+0.2 pp to the September survey) and 5.1% (+0.4 pp), respectively. The forecast for 2027 has been lowered by 0.1 pp to 4.1%. Analysts expect that inflation in 2027–2028 will be close to the target.
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- Key rate: Expectations for the average key rate in 2025 and 2026 have been raised to 19.2% per annum (+0.2 pp, which implies that the key rate will average 16.6% per annum for the remainder of 2025 and 13.7% per annum (+0.5 pp). The forecast for 2027 has been lowered by 0.3 p.p. to 10.0% per annum. The forecast for the end of the horizon is 9.0% per annum (+0.5 pp). It remains higher than the median estimate of the neutral key rate (8.0% per annum). Real key rate calculated based on analysts’ forecasts is 12.5% in 2025, 8.6% (+0.1 pp) in 2026, 5.7% (-0.3 pp) in 2027 and 5.0% (+0.6 pp) in 2028.
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- GDP: Growth forecast has been lowered over the entire forecast horizon: to 1.0% (-0.2 pp) for 2025, 1.2% (-0.4 pp) for 2026, 1.8% and 1.9% for 2027 and 2028 (-- 0.1 pp) respectively. The median estimate of the long-term GDP growth rate is unchanged at 2.0%. According to analysts, the accumulated GDP growth from 2028 to 2021 will total +13.6% (average rate: 1.9% per year).
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- Unemployment rate: No significant changes. Analysts expect the average unemployment to decrease to 2.3% in 2025, rise to 2.5% in 2026, to 2.7% (-0.1 pp) in 2027 and to 3.0% in 2028, remaining below 2021 (4.8%) and 2023 (3.2%) values.
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- Nominal wages: Analysts have raised their forecast for nominal wage growth over the entire forecast horizon. They expect nominal wages to grow by 13.2% (+0.6 pp) in 2025, followed by a deceleration to 8.4% (+0.4 pp) in 2026, 7.2% (+0.3 pp) in 2027 and 7.0% (+0.7 pp) by the end of the forecast horizon. Calculations based on analysts’ forecasts of nominal wages and average inflation suggest that real wages will increase by 4.0% in 2025, 2.7% in 2026, 2.9% in 2027 and 2.6% in 2028. By the end of the forecast horizon, real wages will be 35.4% higher than in 2021 (average rate: 5.1% per year).
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- Consolidated budget balance: Analysts expect a higher consolidated budget deficit in 2025 – 3.0% of GDP (up by 0.6 pp). Forecasts for the next years are almost unchanged at 1.7% of GDP (up by 0.1 pp) in 2026, 1.2% of GDP (up by 0.1 pp) in 2027 and 1.2% (up by 0.2 pp) of GDP in 2028.
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- Exports of goods and services: Expectations have lowered slightly over the entire forecast horizon. The forecast exports are $451 billion (-$1 billion) in 2025, $455 billion (-$3 billion) in 2026 and $472 billion (-$4 billion) in 2027. The forecast for 2028 is $485 billion (-$8 billion). This is 12% ($65 billion) lower than exports in 2021.
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- Imports of goods and services: No significant changes: $385 billion (+$1 billion) in 2025, $392 billion (-$1 billion) in 2026 and $403 billion (-$1 billion) in 2027. The forecast for 2028 is $416 billion (+$4 billion). This is 10% ($39 billion) higher than imports in 2021.
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- USD/RUB exchange rate: Analysts expect a stronger ruble compared to the September survey over the entire forecast horizon. The forecast of the average exchange rate is 85.0 rubles per dollar in 2025 (this implies that the exchange rate will average 85.6 rubles per dollar in October–December 2025), 94.6 rubles per dollar in 2026, 100.0 rubles per dollar in 2027 and 103.7 rubles per dollar in 2028. The ruble is expected to be 0.6–2.6% stronger compared to the September survey.
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- Oil price for tax purposes: No significant changes. Analysts expect the yearly average price of Russian oil for tax purposes will be $58 per barrel in 2025 (this implies that the oil price will average $55 per barrel for the remainder of 2025) and 2026, and will rise to $60 per barrel in 2027–2028.
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| For the full document, click the link below |
| Bank of Russia |
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