Russia’s central bank has hiked its key interest rate by 350 basis points to 12 percent, an emergency move to try and halt the rouble’s recent slide after a public call from the Kremlin for tighter monetary policy.
The extraordinary rate meeting came on Tuesday after the rouble plummeted past the 100 threshold against the US dollar on Monday, dragged down by the effects of Western sanctions on Russia’s balance of trade and as military spending soars.
The rouble pared gains after the decision to stand 0.3 percent weaker at 98.00 by 08:37 GMT, but still significantly above lows near 102 on Monday which had not been hit since the early weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s economic adviser Maxim Oreshkin on Monday rebuked the central bank, blaming what he called its soft monetary policy for weakening the rouble.
Hours after Oreshkin’s words, the bank announced the emergency meeting, throwing the currency a lifeline.
“Inflationary pressure is building up,” the bank said in a statement on Tuesday. “The decision is aimed at limiting price stability risks.
“The pass-through of the rouble’s depreciation to prices is gaining momentum and inflation expectations are on the rise.”
Central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina has won plaudits for her handling of the economy since Russia began what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, but the plunging rouble and high inflation have put her on the back foot, especially among pro-war nationalists.
The Kremlin’s public criticism of her monetary policy adds further pressure as Russia heads towards a presidential election in March 2024, with consumers battling rising prices for basic goods.
“While such a depreciation risks boosting inflation, it is also the signal it sends out to the Russian public about the costs of the invasion of Ukraine,” said Stuart Cole, chief macroeconomist at Equiti Capital in London.
“As such, today’s decision will likely have had an element of politics behind it as well as economics.”
The bank last made an emergency rate hike in late February 2022 with a rate raise to 20 percent in the immediate fallout of Russia’s despatching troops to Ukraine.
The bank then steadily lowered the cost of borrowing to 7.5 percent as strong inflation pressure eased in the second half of 2022.
Since its last cut in September 2022, the bank had held rates but steadily increased its hawkish rhetoric, eventually hiking by 100 basis points to 8.5 percent at its last scheduled meeting in July. The next rate decision is due on September 15.
Russia saw double-digit inflation in 2022 and after a deceleration in the spring of 2023 due to that high base effect, annual inflation is now above the central bank’s 4 percent target once more and quickening.
In annualised terms on a seasonally adjusted basis, current price growth over the last three months amounted to 7.6 percent on average, the bank said.
The bank removed its signal that it was ready to raise rates further, said Sovcombank chief analyst Mikhail Vasilyev, interpreting that as a sign that rates have peaked.
“We believe that the key rate will remain at the current 12 percent level until the end of the year,” Vasilyev said.
Russia’s widening budget deficit and stark labour shortages have contributed to rising inflationary pressure this year, but the rouble’s rapid slide from about 70 against the US dollar at the start of the year to more than 100 on Monday has pushed the central bank to act.
The bank, which blames the rouble’s slide on Russia’s shrinking current account surplus – down 85 percent year on year in January-July – has already tried to limit the rouble’s decline.
Last week, it halted the finance ministry’s FX purchases to try to reduce volatility, a step that effectively saw Russia abandon its budget rule. Analysts widely agreed that those measures alone were too minimal in scope to significantly support the currency.
“Today’s rate hike will only temporarily slow the bleeding,” said Liam Peach, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics in London.
“Russia will struggle to attract capital inflows because of sanctions,” he said. “And there’s little ammunition for FX intervention – the central bank has some unfrozen renminbi assets and gold reserves, but the bar for using these is likely to be high.”
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.