Ruble likely to soften further

The central bank of Russia left its key policy rate unchanged at its last meeting. The CBR foresees the inflation rate to fall in near future, therefore, it is unlikely to cut its policy rate next month's meeting.

The inflation rate reduced to 15.0% year on year in November against 15.6% in previous month. The recent ruble softness is likely to contribute to inflationary pressure in near future.

"We expect rouble weakness to continue, although on a more moderate path than seen over the past 12 months, supported by fewer FX debt redemptions from the corporate side in 2016 and a solid current account surplus", said Danske Bank in a research note.