Russia's GDP could grow 2%-3% in 2023 - Sberbank's Gref

VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 12 (Interfax) - The Russian economy could grow between 2% and 3% in 2023, but it is still hard to give a more accurate forecast, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref said.

"It's difficult to make predictions now. The rate increase and measures to make loans less affordable will unfortunately make a negative contribution to GDP. It is obvious there will be more than 2% growth. But it's still hard to say [where] between 2% and 3%," Gref told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.

"There are still four months to go, we'll see how things pan out, how the economy reacts to this," he said.

The Central Bank of Russia improved its forecast for Russia's economy on July 21 and now expects GDP to grow by 1.5-2.5% instead of 0.5-2.0% as forecast in April.

The Economic Development Ministry's official forecast from April projects that GDP will expand by 1.2% in 2023, but the minister, president and prime minister have already said that growth might exceed 2%. The ministry is expected to revise its forecast in the coming days.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said recently that Russia's GDP could grow by more than 2.5% in 2023.