News
Russian Ships could possibly conduct joint military exercises with the Philippines to fight maritime piracy and terrorism, according to Russia’s state-run Sputnik News. The Pacific Fleet is currently on a 5-day visit to the Philippines of vessels, led by the Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov. Ambassador Igor Anatolyevich Khovaev is willing to supply Philippines with sophisticated weapons, like aircraft and submarines. Russia hopes to become good allies with the Phillipines to possibly gain access to disputed islands nearby in the South China Sea. Possible external shocks, which we learned about earlier in the year, could await Russia in those islands, such as a potential new oil area, and this could boost their economy even further.
Russia has also started pulling out forces from the Syria, since Vladimir Putin has claimed the taken action to be a "semi-success." He believes his Syrian ally, Bashar al-Assad, is militarily, if not politically, secure. Russia is one of the top suppliers to Bashar and his forces and is vital if Bashar wants to stay safe. If Russia was to stop spending its own money on the war now, they could concentrate their spending on improving working conditions to influence workers, or perhaps construct new job training programs which would help discouraged workers find better opportunities in life.
Elvira Nabiullina, head of the Russian central bank, has recently been named the European Banker of the Year. Unfortunately, Russia had started 2016 with a high inflation rate of 12.9%. She highlighted the need to lower this rate if any of the economy was to improve. Elvira managed to drop the rate below 6%, which is still pretty high. Take America into account, where a 2-3% inflation rate is considered stable. Inflation rates in Russia had never actually fallen below 6.1% before her efforts. She's managed to almost reach their 4% target, since the current rate is between 4.5% and 4.7%. This all relates to when we learned about inflation. Inflation causes higher prices, and since Elvira was able to lower the inflation rate by a staggering 8%, prices would have fallen in Russia again and returned to being stable. Paychecks would once again have better purchasing power, since inflation reduces the value of your money and the things it can buy diminishes.