Gref expressed hope that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation would prevent the economy from going into recession.

The head of Sberbank, German Gref, expressed the hope that the Central Bank of Russia would not allow the country's economy to enter a recession. He stated this on September 4 at a press conference at the Eastern Economic Forum - 2025 (WEF-2025).

"[Commercial banks] say that now we need to be extremely careful and take into account the entire set of incoming data from the economy and adjust policy in time. Therefore, let's hope that the Central Bank will not allow a transition into recession," he said.

According to Gref, Russia's economy continues to cool. According to him, the first quarter of 2025 can be considered as technical stagnation. Sberbank estimates that the key rate at the end of this year will be 14%.

"Is this enough for the economy to revive? In our opinion, it is not enough. At current levels of inflation, the rate at which one can hope for economic recovery is 12% or lower," concluded Gref.

"For investment growth, the key rate should be below 10%"

Alexander Kalinin, head of Opora Russia, talks about tax benefits, the fate of the self—employed after 2028, and how to improve loan conditions.

Earlier in the day, Alexander Kalinin, the head of the Opora Russia NGO, said that businesses were losing up to 8 trillion rubles a year due to the high key interest rate, which they expected to reduce at the next meeting of the Central Bank. According to him, this situation first led to a deterioration in the mutual settlements of large and small businesses, and eventually to a decrease in revenue.

In addition, Alexander Shokhin, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), announced that the Central Bank would lower its key interest rate next week.

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