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The need to undertake measures of state support in order to stimulate mortgage-backed lending has recently been discussed with increasing frequency.

The drastic change in the macroeconomic situation in the past year, especially at the end of it (the massive capital outflow, the introduction of various mutual sanctions, the fall of global prices of energy resources, the weakening of the ruble's exchange rate, the chance of a recession in the Russian economy) has necessitated the effective federal budget to be updated for another three years to come (2015–2017).

The monetary policy is varying in configuration.

The past year was marked by launching the Forecast plan (program) of federal property privatization and the guidelines of federal property privatization for 2014-2016 approved by the Russian Government Executive Order of 1 July 2013 No. 1111-р.

Russia's industry entered 2015, facing totally new conditions. A double digit inflation, the sweeping devaluation of the national currency and the drastic increase in the central bank key interest rate can be distinguished among the "crisis-driven surprises" late in 2014. It is worthwhile noting that the Russian authorities were also responsible for all those "innovations".

At the recent meeting in Astana between the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, Vladimir Putin said that time had come for the three countries to think over a currency union. The Russian President in March commissioned the Bank of Russia and the Russian government to explore the viability and feasibility of establishing a currency union within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

The Bank of Russia has published the performance figures of credit institutions as of the beginning of March 2015, showing that risks have been ballooning in the banking system.

In January–February 2015, Industrial Production Index dropped to 99.6% compared to its value for January–February 2014; the corresponding index for February 2015 is 99.6% vs. 98.4%. in February 2014.

At the Bank of Russia Board of Directors' meeting on 13 March, it was decided that the key interest rate should be reduced by 1 pp. – from 15% to 14%.

By way of improving the taxation system applied in the oil sector, during Parliamentary hearing on 13 March in the State Duma's Budget and Tax Committee a draft law regarding the introduction of a tax on financial results (TFR) was submitted by MPs for Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.

Foreign currency remains, for Russian economic agents, the main alternative to bank deposits at the time of diminishing trust in the national currency and Russian banks.

Real estate and the situation on the real estate market is an issue that interests almost everybody. The housing market is almost entirely transparent – its ruble-denominated prices and their movement are clearly visible to everybody, while the market for corporate real estate is much less understandable fr om a layman's point of view.

A 12.2 % annual inflation is quite possible if the fiscal discipline is observed, stated Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

In 2014, Russia's exports of machinery, equipment and transport vehicles amounted to $26bn 329m, or 5.3% of total exports, with imports of fuel and energy commodities being $345bn 445m (69.5% of exports), according to the foreign trade statistics published on 26 February by the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat).

Having discontinued the government guided exchange rate regime in favor of inflation targeting policy, Russia's Central Bank may change the way crude oil prices influence the dynamics of economy.

The initial data on December 2014 showed no drastic changes in the feelings of enterprises compared to what they felt in November same year.