In September, the Central Bank of Russia made a decision to cut the key rate by 0.5 p.p. to 10%. The intention of the Central Bank of Russia to stick to a moderately tough monetary policy is justified by the need to consolidate the trend towards sustained reduction of the rate of inflation

Export and import value indices were synchronous in their decline throughout the past year, 2015. The behavior of exports was naturally shaped by the plunge of prices of raw materials (even though their physical volume remained roughly the same), while the declining value of imports was caused...