Russia’s economy could show signs of recovery by the second half of 2016, assuming an average annual oil price of $40 per barrel, the Central Bank said. The Central Bank of Russia said it was cutting its key interest rate by a half percent to 10.5 percent per year. The bank said growth in the economy was “imminent” with inflation moving toward the target rate of 4 percent by late 2017. The rate cut is the first in nearly a year. The Russian economy has been hobbled by the low price of oil and by Western economic sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its involvement in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea in 2014. In defending the rate cut, the bank […]