Russia predicts 10% economic contraction in 2022, biggest decline since 1994

Russia’s economy is expected to contract by more than 10% in 2022, the biggest drop in gross domestic product since the years after the Soviet Union fell in 1991, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday.

Russia is grappling with skyrocketing inflation and capital flight as it grapples with a potential debt default after the West adopted sanctions to punish President Vladimir Putin for sending tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on Feb. .

Russia’s Economy and Finance Ministries are working on new projections, said Kudrin, now head of the Chamber of Accounts, according to the RIA news agency.

“The official projection will be for a contraction of more than about 10%,” said Kudrin, Putin’s former finance minister from 2000 to 2011, according to the RIA.

The Russian government’s previous projection was for GDP growth of 3% this year, after the economy expanded by 4.7% in 2021.

A source close to the Russian government told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the Economy Ministry projects a GDP contraction of between 10% and 15% this year.

A 10% drop in GDP would be the biggest since 1994, according to data from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Source: CNN Brasil

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