Econ Ministry predicts 1.2% Russian GDP growth in 2023 - Reshetnikov

MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) - The Russian Economic Development Ministry has improved its Russian GDP outlook for 2023, and now predicts 1.2% growth.

The previous forecast in September 2022 was for GDP to fall 0.8% this year.

"The economy continues to recover. We estimate the GDP growth rate this year at 1.2%," Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said during a meeting of Econ Ministry and Finance Ministry officials.

He said economic growth would accelerate to almost 3% by 2026, "mainly due to the recovery of consumer demand."

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.