All 23 analysts in Reuters poll expect rate hold at 16
Bank of Russia to announce decision at 1030 GMT Friday
Governor Nabiullina to hold media briefing at 1200 GMT Friday
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MOSCOW, Feb 12 Reuters Russia will hold interest rates at 16 on Friday after 850 basis points of rate hikes in five meetings since July, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, with economists divided over the signal the bank will give to the market.

Widespread labour shortages, rouble weakness, strong credit growth and high government spending all contributed to stubborn price pressure in 2023, when annual inflation reached 7.4, following on from an 11.9 reading in 2022.

But there are now signs that Russia39;s consumer price growth is starting to ease. The central bank39;s inflation target is 4.

All 23 analysts and economists polled by Reuters on Monday predicted that the Bank of Russia would keep its key rate at 16 at Friday39;s meeting.

Some economists said the central bank may go so far as to signal an upcoming rate cut, but others were less convinced.

It is too early to talk about a sustainable inflation slowdown, seeing as the drop in price growth rates in DecemberJanuary was mainly due to oneoff and temporary factors, said Igor Rapokhin, an FX and money market strategist at SberCIB Investment Research.

We expect that the central bank will maintain the neutral signal at its next…