-Russian Central Bank keeps rate unchanged
The Russian Central Bank held its last meeting of 2016 and in line with expectations, the bank decided to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 10 percent.
In a statement released by the bank, it stressed that while risks in the country’s economy were decreasing, the risks for high inflation remained, and therefore, it was agreed to keep the key rate unchanged.
The bank also underlined that the tight monetary policy in the country would continue to reach the 4 percent inflation target by the end of next year. It also added that a decrease in the key rate in the first half of next year was a possibility.ÌýÌý
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- Russia hits historic inflation low of 5.5%: PM
Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev said last week that inflation in 2016 stood at a historic low of around 5.5 percent.
"Inflation in the country fell to the level of 5.5 percent. This is the lowest level in the entire history" of post-Soviet Russia, Medvedev told Russian state-run television Rossiya-24.
Medvedev shared his hope that the Russian economy would grow in 2017, adding that a 0.5 percent fall in gross domestic product for 2016 was expected.
Medvedev said they have tried to make structural changes to the economy, but admitted that this is not an easy process.
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-Russia not planning to cut oil exports
Russia will not significantly reduce exports, CEO of Russian Pipeline Company, Transneft, Nikolai Tokarev, said.
Tokarev said the deal between Russia and OPEC only included reductions in oil production, and therefore, the country’s oil exports would not be reduced.
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