Kudrin: Russia’s GDP to rise 1.6% in 2018, inflation seen at 4%

MOSCOW, Nov 21 (PRIME) -- Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) will rise by only 1.6% in 2018 instead of the government’s forecast of 1.8%, while inflation will amount to about 4%, Alexei Kudrin, head of the Audit Chamber, said on Wednesday at a meeting of the budget and finance market committee of the parliament’s upper house Federation Council.

“I would like to say that although the oil price was significantly increased in our forecast, growth expectations were reduced to 1.8% from 2.1%. But I think that it will be even lower, somewhere around 1.6%, in spite of improvements in the external economic conditions. Our economy no longer reacts to that,” he said.

“Regarding inflation, the forecast was raised to 3.4%, but I think that it will be higher and stand at around 4%.”

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