Elvira Nabiullina

Belarus and Russia have no plans to adopt a joint currency in the near future, Belarus' strongman leader has announced.

Speaking at a meeting with the head of Russia's central bank, Alexander Lukashenko said that introducing the Russian ruble in Belarus would not be "an easy process," and that the authorities in Minsk had no intentions so far of doing so.

The head of the Russian Central Bank warned yesterday that the country's economy faces pressure from abroad that could persist indefinitely, dampening hopes that conditions could return to what they were before Russia sent troops into Ukraine.

Russia's Central Bank has drawn up a "risk scenario" under which oil prices will stay around $35 for the next three years, Governor Elvira Nabiullina said, an outcome that would severely dent Russia's chances of making a robust economic recovery.

Russian Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said on June 4 it was too early to say the crisis is over in Russia after the economy was hit by Western sanctions and falling oil prices.   

?It?s premature to say that all the features of the crisis are over,? Nabiullina said at a bank congress in Russia?s second city of Saint Petersburg.