Russia says economy curbs fallout of sanctions successfully

MOSCOW, Jan 30 (PRIME) – Russia’s foreign trade surplus will hit a record this year to demonstrate that the economy has constrained the consequences of the sanctions, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Monday.

“It is obvious that the process of overcoming consequences that followed the rupture of the relations is going on just like the sanction war that the unfriendly countries are leading against us. Did we manage to limit it? Obviously, yes. The condition of our economy shows that,” he said.

Initially, the foreign institutions forecasted a 10–20% slump of the Russian economy in 2022, while it contracted only by 2.5%, and all international institutions and many expects even from the most unfriendly countries had to improve their forecasts. Russia’s inflation is below 12% and will slow down further, unemployment is at the record low, and even external debt decreased by U.S. $100 billion last year, Lavrov said.

“We expect foreign trade surplus to hit a record not only because of the changes in prices for commodities, but because of redirection of Russia’s trade to the Asian, Middle Eastern, African, and Latin American countries,” he said.

Russia is adapting to the new economic reality solving the main foreign trade tasks, he added.

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