On Wednesday, Russia reported this year's last set of macroeconomic data, covering preliminary estimates of December CPI and November actvity indicators. The deck of charts below summarises the key observations and takeaways. {charts} Given that the softening in the income and consumption trend is taking place amid elevated lending growth and low propensity to save, we believe fighting stickier-than-expected inflation will remain a priority for the central bank, which aims for 4.0-4.5% CPI by the end of next year. We reiterate our expectations of 0-50 basis point upside to the key rate from the current 8.5% level. ... (full story)