Russian central bank official sees 2023 growth close to 1%

Russia’s economic growth this year is likely to come in at the top end of the central bank’s forecast range of between minus 1% and 1%, a senior bank official said on Tuesday.

In an interview broadcast on state TV, Deputy Governor Alexei Zabotkin said operational data from the first quarter of 2023 indicated growth was likely to fall “in the more optimistic part of this range”.

Last week Russia’s economy ministry raised its own 2023 GDP forecast to predict 1.2% growth, up from previous expectations for a 0.8% contraction, and the International Monetary Fund has also raised its forecasts for Russia recently – from 0.3% growth to 0.7%.

Russia’s economy shrank 2.1% in 2022 under the pressure of Western sanctions and fallout from its military campaign in Ukraine.