The Banker names Elvira Nabiullina as Central Banker of the Year
The British journal considers that the Central Bank of Russia succeeded in leading the country out of an economic crisis coupled with currency devaluation and banking sector troubles. Elvira Nabiullina, whose career as the Central Bank's governor began in 2013, had to deal with a weak national currency and numerous economic problems.
The Banker financial journal named Russian Central Bank's head Elvira Nabiullina as the European Central Bank Chairman of 2016, reports RFE/RL. She managed to reduce Russia's inflation rate from 12,9% in 2015 to less than 6% in 2016. According to the International Monetary Fund data, inflation in Russia has never fallen below 6,1% since 1992.
In her interview to the journal, the bank governor stated that 2016 was a ''turning point'' for inflation expectations. ''At the beginning of 2016, the inflation expectations of market participants were higher than our own inflation target,'' she said. ''Now they are approaching our target and are at 4,5-4,7%.'' Lower inflation should lead to lower interest rates that are favourable to the country's banking institutions. In 2016, rates were lowered by 1% and reached 10% be the end of the year.
Another merit of the banker is clearance of the country's banking sector. Since 2014, Bank of Russia has withdrawn more than 300 licences from unreliable banking institutions. ''But we haven't yet completed the resolution of the banking sector and our target for 2017 is to raise the efficiency of our banking supervision so that it is proactive and follows our risk-based approach,'' said Nabiullina.
Currently, Elvira Nabiullina is working on a new pension savings concept. ''Pension savings should become the most important source of long-term money for the Russian economy,'' considers the bank governor. ''We hope that this project is going to be adopted by parliament in 2017.''
Nabiullina is the first female central bank's governor in the Group of Eight. In 2014, Forbes included her in its ''100 Most Powerful Women in the World" list. Euromoney magazine named her central bank governor of 2015.
Reference
Elvira Nabiullina was born in a Tatar family in Ufa, Bashkortostan. She has been chairman of the Russian Central Bank since June 2013. From September 2007 to May 2012, Nabiullina served as minister of economic development and trade. Later, from May 2012 to June 2013, she was Vladimir Putin's economic adviser.