The Russian economy shrank by 4.1% in the third quarter of 2105, according to statistics released by the state-run Rosstat agency yesterday, as the recession caused by low oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine continued to take their toll.
Preliminary figures showed a slight improvement on previous government forecasts of 4.3% fall but still pointed to an economy in deep trouble.
Russia’s government now estimates that the economy will shrink by around 3.9% in 2015 before recovering slightly by 0.7% in 2016.
Its forecast is more upbeat than that of the World Bank which in September predicted that the Russian economy would shrink by 3.8% in 2015 but that could end up at 4.3% if oil prices continued to drop. The bank now expects Russia’s economic output to decline by 0.6% next year, with a recovery only materialising in 2017 with growth of 1.5%.
The World Bank also reported that the poverty rate had climbed to 15.1% or 21.7 million people, a “troubling rise” that it said had been exacerbated by increasing food prices. In some regions more than 35% were living in poverty, it said.
Russian economy shrinks 4.1% in Q3
Source: hurriyetdailynews