The Bank of Russia unexpectedly maintained its key interest rate at a record-high 21% , defying analysts’ expectations of another significant hike as inflation remains stubbornly elevated. The decision marks a shift toward a more measured approach in balancing economic growth and price stability. Key Details Inflation Concerns: Annual inflation climbed to 8.9% in November, well above the central bank’s 4% target , with inflation expectations reaching 13.9% in December. Policy Rationale: The central bank cited the significant tightening of monetary conditions after October’s 200-basis point hike as sufficient to resume disinflationary processes. Governor Elvira Nabiullina emphasized avoiding both economic overheating and severe slowdowns. Economic Overheating: Elevated government spending on the war in Ukraine and social programs, coupled with labor shortages and rising wages, have fueled strong domestic demand, exacerbating price pressures...
This post continue from Credit Card - Friend of Foe (Part 1) Majority generation born after 1980 are using credit cards. In fact, the credit card usage has been so severe since the late 90s and this in fact has cause issues like subprime credit pop up in the US recently. Credit cards, can in fact become our friends if we manage it well. As was posted previously, with credit card, we do not need to bring a lot of cash with us - which is very important as the rate of theft is increasing from day to day. Besides that, loyalty reward points or cash rebates that can help us to save some of our money. Another good thing about credit card is the easy payment scheme. By using easy payment scheme, expensive stuff like furniture, gadgets etc can easily become more affordable. For example, a PC cost about RM3k can be pay as few as RM300 installment over the next 12 months. But this can easily become the bad thing about credit cards if not managed properly. One can easily get deeper into debt beca...