UPDATE: Russian cbank: GDP decline to slow to 1–1.6% in 2016

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MOSCOW, Mar 13 (PRIME) -- The Russian central bank expects that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) decline will slow to 1.0–1.6% in 2016, Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said at a news conference Friday.

“A long period of relatively low oil prices will require that the Russian economy adapt to the new conditions. As a result, we will see a GDP decline of 3.5–4.0% in 2015 and 1.0–1.6% in 2016,” she said.

If the oil price amounts to U.S. $40 per barrel, GDP could drop 5.3–5.8% in 2015, Nabiullina also said.

The Economic Development Ministry expects that the country’s GDP will contract 3% in 2015 at an oil price of $50 per barrel.

The central bank said in its quarterly report for the country’s monetary policy said that if the oil prices grow to $70–75 per barrel in 2017 and Russia enters Asian capital markets and develops import substitution, GDP may grow 5.5–6.3%.

But if the oil prices remain at $40 per barrel, the GDP may increase 0.5% in 2016 after the 5.3–5.8% drop in 2015, and rise 2–2.5% in 2017.

In 2014, Russia’s GDP grew 0.6%.

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