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Deripaska Bemoans Lack of Candor at Central Bank

Oleg Deripaska stepped up his attack on the Central Bank, accusing top officials at the regulator of lying.

The head of RusAl complained that the Central Bank’s support of high interest rates was making the cost of capital exorbitant for Russian companies.

“The Central Bank should not sit in comfortable chairs teaching us there is a structural problem … lying to us about the costs and about what’s going on with our inflation,” Deripaska told television channel Russia Today late Sunday.

The tycoon last week accused the Central Bank of being like a “quack doctor … who has let all the blood from the economy.”

The regulator raised rates in September and held them this month, resisting calls from officials to opt for monetary easing to stimulate economic growth.

“The main problem is the people,” said the tycoon, speaking in English. “If you look at the CVs, no one [has been] in private banking … and [yet] they run [what is] almost [a] market economy.”

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