Economics
Something for Russians to Cheer About as Economy Bottoms Out
- GDP slumped 4.1% last quarter after 4.6% fall in prior period
- Russian economy at risk of longest recession in two decades
Unlike the economic contractions of 1998 and 2009, when the pace of decline only worsened after two quarters, this time Russia may already be past the low point after signs of improvement in industrial output.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Almost eight months after top officials declared the worst to be over for Russia, the economy is finally living up to those expectations.
Gross domestic product shrank 4.1 percent last quarter from a year earlier after decreasing 4.6 percent in the previous three months, the Federal Statistics Service said Thursday, citing preliminary data. That was better than the median of 18 estimates in a Bloomberg survey for a 4.4 percent contraction.