The Bank of Russia has performed a retrospective analysis of the economic situation in the period of inflation targeting as part of its Monetary Policy Review. One of the objectives of the Monetary Policy Review is to establish the degree to which the current monetary policy is optimal in terms of social welfare. This analysis helps determine the timeliness of the Bank of Russia’s response to unexpected changes in economic conditions and to what extent the monetary policy it has followed has been in agreement with the stages of the business cycle.