Russia Sticks to 4.1% Growth Forecast as GDP Below Estimates

Russia’s economic expansion will accelerate this year from 2010 even after gross domestic product grew more slowly than estimated in the third quarter, Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach said.

The economy will increase 4.1 percent this year after 4 percent last year, Klepach said in a telephone interview yesterday, reiterating the official target. GDP rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier last quarter, missing economists’ forecasts and the Economy Ministry’s estimate of 5.1 percent.