AFP, Moscow :
Russia’s economy expanded for the first time in two years in the fourth quarter of 2016, data from the state statistics service showed Friday, as it slowly recovers from a crippling crisis.
The country recorded 0.3 percent growth in gross domestic product year-on-year, Rosstat said, as Moscow pulls itself out of a two-year economic crisis triggered by tumbling oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine.
Russia’s GDP last experienced growth in the fourth quarter of 2014, when it expanded by 0.2 percent.
Rosstat said that Russia’s GDP had contracted 0.2 percent overall last year, after having shrank 2.8 percent in 2015.
The Russian government expects 0.6 percent growth this year, while economy minister Maxim Oreshkin has said that growth could even reach two percent.
William Jackson, Senior Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics, said that the return to positive growth had been “driven by stronger inventory investment and a shallower fall in consumer spending.”
Jackson forecast that Russia’s GDP growth would reach 1.5 percent this year and 2.3 percent in 2018, figures higher than most analysts expect. Last week Russia’s central bank cut its key rate for the first time in six months amid falling inflation and said it was considering further cuts.
Russia’s economy expanded for the first time in two years in the fourth quarter of 2016, data from the state statistics service showed Friday, as it slowly recovers from a crippling crisis.
The country recorded 0.3 percent growth in gross domestic product year-on-year, Rosstat said, as Moscow pulls itself out of a two-year economic crisis triggered by tumbling oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine.
Russia’s GDP last experienced growth in the fourth quarter of 2014, when it expanded by 0.2 percent.
Rosstat said that Russia’s GDP had contracted 0.2 percent overall last year, after having shrank 2.8 percent in 2015.
The Russian government expects 0.6 percent growth this year, while economy minister Maxim Oreshkin has said that growth could even reach two percent.
William Jackson, Senior Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics, said that the return to positive growth had been “driven by stronger inventory investment and a shallower fall in consumer spending.”
Jackson forecast that Russia’s GDP growth would reach 1.5 percent this year and 2.3 percent in 2018, figures higher than most analysts expect. Last week Russia’s central bank cut its key rate for the first time in six months amid falling inflation and said it was considering further cuts.
