Stealing a Peek at Russian Economic Uptick Before It Happens
- GDP last quarter shrank least since crisis began, survey shows
- Electricity demand, rail cargoes show recovery is taking hold
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Prone to false starts since a crisis peaked last year, Russia’s economy is riding momentum that has it on the cusp of exiting the longest recession in two decades.
As business sentiment perks up, leading indicators from demand for electricity to rail cargoes and container transport show the pulse of the economy is starting to beat faster. Gross domestic product last quarter shrank the least since a contraction began at the start of 2015, losing 0.6 percent from a year earlier, the Federal Statistics Service said on Thursday. That was better than all but four forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of 19 economists, whose median estimate was for a 0.8 percent drop.