And shifting to Russia. <br />The country's central bank has slashed its benchmark interest rate by a percentage point... to 14 percent. <br />In a statement released Friday, the bank said... the decision to reduce the annual base rate from 15 percent reflected what it called a "significant cooling of the economy."<br />It also defended that the widely-expected move would not pose an additional threat of raising inflationary pressure.<br />Russia has been steadily rolling back its key rate as the rouble is stabilizing after losing nearly half its value last year.
