Russia cuts interest rates for the seventh time in a row to boost the economy.

On Friday, the Russian Central Bank cut interest rates for the seventh consecutive time, lowering the benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 15%, in line with the expectations of most economists. The Central Bank of Russia stated in its announcement, "In February, the growth rate of prices slowed significantly as the impact of one-time factors that appeared at the beginning of the year gradually faded. Uncertainty in the external environment has increased significantly." The bank's assessment of the underlying annual inflation rate is around 4% to 5%. According to the latest weekly data, the annual inflation rate has also dropped to 5.8%. Meanwhile, signs of economic pressure are increasingly evident under the weight of high borrowing costs. Russia's gross domestic product declined in January. Although the Ministry of Economy stated that this was due to technical factors, the commercial confidence index in almost all industries continues to decline, indicating that economic activity is indeed shrinking.