Russia Holds Key Rate at 11% as Economy Lags

Russia’s central bank kept interest rates steady on Friday, as expected after a month that saw oil prices sink and the ruble drop to record lows.

January marked a difficult month for the Russian economy, which saw its currency decline in near lockstep with the falling oil price, sending the ruble to fresh record lows of 85 rubles per dollar last week.

The ruble was trading near 75 to the U.S. dollar after the central bank’s first monetary policy decision of 2016.

Interest rates have come down significantly since being hiked to 17 percent in December 2014, though today’s decision still leaves the bank off its November 2014 level of 10.5 percent.

Russian inflation did retreat from 15 percent in December to 12.9 percent, but the headline rate is still far cry from the central bank’s 4 percent inflation target.

CNBC

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