Russian Bank CEO: Interest Rates Are Going Up Because Top Official Is a Woman

The CEO of the Russian bank has reportedly claimed that interest rates are continuing to rise because of the fact that one of the bank's top officials is a woman.

CEO Andrey Kostin claimed that the Russian Central Bank's key interest rate was difficult to predict because the bank has a woman, Elvira Nabiullina, for its governor, as reported by Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

"Yes, when women lead the process, almost anything is possible," Kostin said in an interview with state-owned TV channel Rossiya 24.

Prior to Nabiullina obtaining her top position at the bank in 2013, she served as an economic affairs aide to the president, as well as a minister of trade and economic development, as reported by Novaya Gazeta.

The Central Bank of Russia raised its key rate to 19% in September, and Nabiullina did not rule out another hike in October. There is another possibility of raising interest rates at the bank's next meeting on Oct. 25, Chairman Alexei Zabotkin told RIA Novosti.

Kostin said that his analysts believe that the bank's interest rates would reach about 21% by the end of the year, but told Rossiya 24, "Ask [Nabiullina], I don't manage the rates," when asked if they could reach up to 25%.

In February, Kostin was charged in the United States after allegedly violating sanctions and laundering money to operate his superyachts worth more than $135 million. Kostin has been under international sanctions since 2018.