Russian Central Bank chief noted for coded dress wears funeral black to signal death of economy

Elvira Nabiullina, chief of the Central Bank of Russia, is facing one of the most tumultuous phases in her career.

The technocrat-turned-economist may have steered Russia’s economy through a series of economic shocks over the past few years, but the latest sanctions announced by the West in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine are stretching her ability to keep the economy on track.

With inflation rising and the ruble plunging by more than a quarter, Nabiullina last Monday announced that the central bank’s key interest rate would more than double to a record 20 percent to curb price rises.

She admitted that the Russian economy was "dealing with a completely non-standard situation" under "conditions that have fundamentally changed".

More than her grim analysis of the economy, it was the way she spoke and her choice of clothing that caught the attention of many.

Nabiullina is well-known not only for her hawkish economic policies, but also for her symbolic attire, which hints at her policy thinking.

In May 2020, when the government urged people to stay at home, she wore a house-shaped brooch. A month later, after cutting rates, she chose a pigeon – in Russian, the word also means "dove".

But on Monday, she wore a funeral black dress to her conference, which many perceived to be a symbol of the death of the Russian economy.

Sergei Guriev, a professor of economics at Sciences Po in Paris and a leading authority on Russia, said that Monday’s coded message was to demonstrate the severity of the blow being dealt by western sanctions.

"This time she was in black and had no brooch. It should not be read as she disagreed with Putin’s policy, but as a sign that it is time to bury normal monetary policy," Guriev told the Guardian.

Analysts expect Russia’s economy could be set for a deeper recession this year than the one caused by COVID-19.

Sanctions freezing the central bank’s assets have severely limited Nabiullina’s room for manoeuvre. Out of $630 billion (£475 billion) in foreign currency reserves built up by the central bank – which could have been used to protect the rouble – experts say much of the sum has been rendered useless.

Many Russian economists have expressed doubts about whether she will complete her five-year term, which expires in June.

Although they say her priority could be to help protect ordinary Russians from the consequences of Putin’s actions by staying in post.