Russian Economy

We all know the monetary system in Russian has bottomed out. Their ruble is worth a fraction of what it once was, and it doesn't seem to be ready to boost back to where it was anytime soon. However, Putin seems optimistic. Even though the ruble fell 40% last year versus the dollar, it has strengthened in recent weeks as the oil price has changed. The Central Bank expects that the economy will sill contract both this year and the next, but Putin believes the economy will start to grow again by 2017. He mentioned that despite the recent low oil prices, he believes Russia will stand tall and return to power in the coming year. We'll see about that.