Addressing current conflicts in the neighboring regions, particularly between Russia and Ukraine, the MNB said: “A currency weakening in the wake of [geopolitical tensions] could increase inflation pressures, which may warrant tighter monetary policy to reach the inflation target.” MNB added that it expects to reach a rate of 2.9% in 2016 just 0.1% shy of its target while it anticipates that GDP growth will slow in 2016 to 2.1%.