Russian Economic Development Minister Expects No Recession In Country In Early 2019

ST PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2018) The annual growth rate of Russia's GDP will slow down up to 1 percent in the first quarter of 2019 but there are no fears that the Russian economy will face recession in that period, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters on Friday on the sidelines of the Eurasian Women's Forum.

"No, there are no such fears," Oreshkin told reporters answering a question on whether there is a threat of recession in the Russian economy in the first quarter of 2019.

He pointed out that the GDP growth may be lower than 1 percent due the increased value-added tax (VAT) and volatility of financial markets.

"Even in the worst-case scenario the impact of these factors will be short-term," Oreshkin said.

The minister noted that until the end of the year the Russian economy's annual growth rate would amount to 2 percent each month.

Oreshkin said that in August the GDP annual growth rate amounted to 1 percent, which was 0.8 percent less than in July. He explained such a decrease with a poor harvest.

Russian Economic Development Ministry forecasts that the Russian GDP will grow by 1.8 percent in 2018 and by 1.3 percent in 2019.