Russia Rewrites Growth Blueprint as Recession Dooms Consumer
Before a currency crisis, sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine and slumping oil prices shook the economy last year, consumption accounted for about half of gross domestic product.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Russia’s consumer economy, powered for more than a decade by a $2.1 trillion energy windfall, is in agony.
The situation is getting worse, according to data released Wednesday by the statistics office in Moscow. Wages adjusted for inflation plummeted 9.2 percent last month from a year earlier and retail sales fell at the same rate. As an extended downturn in oil prices sets in and the ruble slumps to new lows, the list of candidates to replace Russia’s growth engine is short. Most economists can only think of one thing: investment.