Russia’s economy may shrink the most next year since 2009 if oil averages $60 a barrel under a “stress scenario,” the central bank said, underscoring the toll exacted by plunging crude prices.
With oil prices remaining at that level until the end of 2017, gross domestic product will probably shrink 4.5 percent to 4.7 percent in 2015 and 0.9 percent to 1.1 percent in 2016, the Bank of Russia said in a report issued today. The ruble extended its decline after the release, tumbling more than 10 percent percent against the dollar.
