Putin: Russian 2023 GDP outlook considerably improved

MOSCOW. April 11 (Interfax) - The Russian government has when reviewing the socioeconomic forecast for the next three years "considerably improved" its 2023 GDP outlook, President Vladimir Putin said.

"I remind you that when drafting the current budget, the government assumed GDP would decline by 2.9% last year and 0.8% this year. Now, against the backdrop of positive statistics, colleagues have revised their estimates and have considerably improved them," he said, opening a meeting with cabinet ministers members to discuss the updated socioeconomic forecast.

"Positive tendencies in the economy are strengthening," he said. As examples, he referred to positive dynamics in retail trade, rail haulage and economic activity.

"GDP will increase significantly in real terms for April," Putin said.

The Russian Economic Development Ministry said recently that it was expecting GDP to grow in 2023 but plans to give a more precise forecast in April - it previously predicted 0.8% decline. "We are factoring Russian GDP growth in 2023 already into the scenario conditions of the forecast. The dynamic of indicators for January and February provides grounds for this," the ministry said this week, commenting on its expectations for GDP this year.

The Central Bank of Russia revised its GDP forecast on February 10, projecting growth ranging from negative 1% to plus 1%, rather than a contraction of 1-4% as in its October forecast. The Central Bank expects growth in the range of 0.5% to 2.5% in 2024 and 1.5-2.5% in 2025.

The consensus forecast of analysts polled by Interfax at the beginning of April is more pessimistic than official forecasts, projecting a contraction of 1.0% in 2023 and growth of 1.3% in 2024.