UPDATE: Statistics: Russian economy expands 1.8% in July–September

(Adds Economy Development Ministry’s comment, details in last three paragraphs)

MOSCOW, Nov 13 (PRIME) -- Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased 1.8% on the year in July–September, the Federal State Statistics Service said in a statement on Monday quoting preliminary data.

“The physical volume index of the gross domestic product amounted to 101.8% for the third quarter of 2017 compared to the same year-ago period, according to preliminary estimates,” the statement said.

In October, Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said that Russia’s GDP grew 2.2% on the year in July–September.

An Economic Development Ministry representative told PRIME that different methodology of calculation of factors and to different number of factors was responsible for the difference in GDP estimates of the ministry and the service.

The ministry calculates GDP on the basis of monthly statistics, while the service uses quarterly calculations. “The service uses more factors in calculation of GDP than are accessible in the real-time mode. Moreover, we have differences in the methodology of calculation of factors that are published in different periods. This is why it will be possible to understand the reason for the differences only after more statistics are published,” the person said.

The ministry expects the Russian economy to rise 2.1% in 2017. In January–March, the GDP grew 0.5%, and in April–June it rose 2.5%. The economy should grow by more than 3% in October–December to reach the forecasted level.

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