Russian central bank sees 'prolonged' impact from Western sanctions

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian central bank expects Western sanctions already imposed on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine crisis to have a prolonged effect and hinder economic growth next year, according to a policy document published on Friday. "The impact from already imposed sanctions, including limiting access to foreign financial markets for Russian companies, will have a prolonged effect," the central bank said in its annual monetary policy strategy document. "This will constrain economic growth in 2015." The central bank sees gross domestic product growth at 0.9-1.1 percent next year. The bank also said it is sticking to its inflation target of 4.5 percent for 2015, while its inflation forecast for next year is 4.5-5.0 percent. The bank reiterated its commitment to float the rouble by the end of this year, involving the abolition of its trading band against a dollar-euro basket. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly, editing by Jason Bush)