Russia-Oil price drops inflation rises.

RUSSIA.

INFLATION PROBLEMS.

The recent drop in the value of the rouble, coupled with inflation between 11 and 11.5 %, caused the Minister of Finance in Russia, Alexel Kudrin, to go on national television on Saturday 27 December, saying if the price of oil drops below US$30 a barrel, then he would expect inflation to hit 15%.

The minister went on to say, that the rouble was not likely to improve against the dollar any time soon, blaming the drop in the price of oil.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has said inflation will level out at 13%, which is up from his earlier predictions of 11.9%. While the nation is oil rich and debt free, which is an amazing transformation from the nineties, there has been a lot of value lost on the Moscow stock exchange in recent months,

foreign investors are a little hesitant to come forward.