Putin: Russia Economy Retains Positive Dynamics

The Russian economy has retained positive dynamics and the country’s gold and currency reserves are growing, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at a meeting with workers of the Tver Carriage Works.

“We see positive dynamics of the Russian economy—our budget deficit is less than we expected, gold and foreign currency reserves are growing. That means the Russian economy is on the rise and this is a persisting trend,” he said, Tass reported.

Russia’s economic growth is expected to stabilize at around 1.8% in 2018-2020 as the country has adjusted to the new level of oil prices, the World Bank said in its Global Economic Prospects report released Tuesday.

“In Russia, after a two-year recession, output expanded by 1.7% in 2017, bolstered by higher oil prices and supportive monetary policies amid lower inflation,” the report said. “Growth in Russia is expected to stabilize at around 1.8% in 2018-20,” it said.

According to the World Bank, “the two largest economies, the Russian Federation and Turkey, accounted for most of the improvement in the region’s expansion in 2017.”

Meanwhile, “an escalation of geopolitical tensions in Ukraine, a tightening of international sanctions on Russia, or an intensification of disagreements of some countries with the EU could deter international investors,” the World Bank said, adding that “the latter could lead to expectations of an end to EU accession protocol for Turkey and of disruptions in EU funding to some countries during the next budget cycle.”

The World Bank’s projections differ from those offered by the International Monetary Fund, which upgraded its GDP growth outlook for Russia to 1.8% from 1.4% for 2017 and to 1.6% from 1.4% for 2018 in early October.

The World Bank raised its forecast for Russia›s GDP growth to 1.7% from 1.3% for 2017, to 1.7% from 1.4% for 2018 and to 1.8% from 1.4% for 2019 in November.