Russia issues upbeat economic forecast for 2023

The new year will be much easier for the Russian economy than 2022, when the nation was hit by unprecedented Western sanctions, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov.

He said in an interview with Russia 24 TV channel this week that the country has managed to navigate through even the most difficult periods of the current crisis. Despite widespread expectations of a fairly severe downturn, the actual decline in economic activity turned out much smaller than initial projections, he noted.

“We believe that 2023, if nothing happens, will naturally be much easier than 2022: we don’t see any fatal problems there,” Belousov stressed.

He also said that he expects the country’s GDP growth next year to be “near zero,” although the official forecast indicates a decline of just under 1%.

“Of course, next year we will not be able to show 3% [GDP growth], most likely it will be lower. I think it will be around zero,” the first deputy PM said.

The Ministry of Economic Development forecasts Russia’s GDP decreasing by 2.9% this year and by 0.8% in 2023. The central bank expects that the decline in GDP to be 3.0-3.5% this year and 1-4% next year.

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