Evening Political Roundup, October 23, 2026

The Bank of Russia kept its policy rate at 14%, raised its annual inflation forecast to 7.1–7.6%, and announced an average policy rate for 2027 of 12.5–13.5%. On the same day, the National Bank of Kazakhstan lowered its rate to 15.75% and announced a pause until 2027 due to utility rates, while Moldova’s Energocom requested an additional 30% increase in the price of electricity. In the U.S., political parties spent a record $147 million in a single day on campaign advertising. We’ll examine why the interest rate doesn’t solve the utility rate problem and who ends up paying the high price.