Published
03/17/2026, 15:56At the end of 2025, inflation in the region’s countries averaged 6.5%, though price trends varied significantly from country to country. This is stated in the EDB’s macroeconomic review.
Rising global food prices put pressure on inflation in a number of countries, including Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. At the same time, measures were implemented in Kazakhstan that slowed price growth to 11.7% as of February 2026. Russia significantly slowed inflation to 8.9%, though this decline was interrupted in January 2026 due to one-off factors.
In Uzbekistan, inflation is gradually falling and moving into the 10–12% range, whilst in Belarus price growth rates have fallen below target levels.
Monetary policy in the region’s countries took divergent paths in December 2025. Some regulators continue to tighten policy: in Kyrgyzstan, the key rate was raised to 11% (to 12% from 24 February 2026), in Kazakhstan to 18%, in Uzbekistan to 14%, and in Belarus to 9.75%. Armenia left its rate at 6.5%, following a cut in December 2025.
At the same time, Russia is seeing a gradual easing of monetary policy: since June 2025, the rate has been cut to 16%, and a further reduction to 15% is expected in March. In Tajikistan, the rate was also reduced to 7% in February 2026.
Overall, at the start of 2026, monetary policy in most countries in the region remains moderately tight.
