UN upgrades forecast for growth of Russian economy to 2.7% from 1.3%

NEW YORK. May 17 (Interfax) - United Nations economists have upgraded the growth forecast for the Russian economy in 2024 to 2.7% from 1.3%, the organization's report says, while the estimate for next year remained unchanged at 1.5%.

The forecast for global economic growth was raised to 2.7% from January's 2.4% estimate.

The global economy is forecast to expand 2.8% in 2025, up from the previous estimate of 2.7%.

The revision to this year's estimate is due mainly to more positive developments in the economies of some large, developed and developing countries, including Brazil, India, Russia and the United States, the report said.

Grigor Agabekyan of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said that "the figures given in the report [for Russia] are from forecasts prepared around mid-April, and, naturally, new information has appeared during this time." In particular, preliminary estimates for the first quarter have appeared; it is assumed that GDP growth exceeded 5%.

"Thanks to rising oil prices, economic activity and one-time tax payments, federal budget revenues increased sharply in the first quarter, resulting in a smaller budget deficit than at the beginning of 2023. Decisions were also made on national development goals through 2030. Considering the significant budget expenditures and the continuation of the import substitution policy, it is quite possible that the performance of the Russian economy in 2024-2025 will be slightly better than predicted in our report, and growth in 2024 may top 3%, but a considerable part of the growth will come from the military-industrial complex," Agabekyan said.