Russian Econ Ministry expects GDP growth will exceed 2% in 2024 - Reshetnikov

ABU DHABI. March 1 (Interfax) - The Russian Economic Development Ministry predicts Russian GDP will grow more than 2% in 2024, and will give an exact forecast in April after analyzing data for the beginning of the year, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said.

"We expect growth of more than 2% in 2024. We'll unveil the exact figures in April, when we analyze the data for the beginning of the year," he told reporters on the sidelines of the WTO ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi.

Russian GDP grew an estimated 4.6% year-on-year in January 2024 after rising 4.4% in December 2023, the Econ Ministry said on February 28.

The Central Bank of Russia on February 16 raised its forecast to 1.0%-2.0% for 2024 from 0.5%-1.5% previously. Consequently, the CBR's updated forecast for GDP growth in 2024 is still lower than the Econ Ministry's current official forecast of 2.3% from September.

The consensus forecast of analysts polled by Interfax in early February is within the CBR's range and projects growth of 1.4% in 2024.

GDP grew 3.6% in 2023, the State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said in its first estimate.