MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The bank has decided to reduce the rate by 0.5 percent for the first time since last August.
"The Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia [Central Bank] on June 10, 2016 decided to lower the key rate to 10.50 percent annual. The Board notes the positive developments in inflation stabilization, reduction of inflation expectations and inflation risks amid signs of the approaching entry of the economy in a phase of recovery growth," the press release reads.
Russia has been hit by a downturn that began in late 2014 amid falling oil prices and Western anti-Russia sanctions. The country's GDP contracted 3.7 percent in 2015 after announcing a 3.8-percent fall in the fourth quarter. Between late 2013 and 2014, the key rate moved from 5.5 percent to record 17 percent.
