Economic ministry says Russian economy rises by 1.5% in February

MOSCOW, Mar 22 (PRIME) -- Russia’s economic growth slowed down to 1.5% on the year in February from 1.9% in January, the Economic Development Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministry has also reduced the growth estimate for January to 1.9% from 2%.

The contribution of industry to the gross domestic product (GDP) rise decreased to 0.4 percentage points in February from 0.6 percentage points in January. Total contribution of other types of activities fell to 0.1 percentage points from 0.3 percentage points.

Cargo traffic grew by 1.8% on the year in February, retail and wholesale trade by 0.9%, construction rise was close to zero. Real estate and the financial sector demonstrated an increase.

Russia’s industrial output grew by 1.5% on the year in February after 2.9% in January.

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