Russian economy may recover to pre-pandemic levels by year end, says Central Bank

The economic situation in Russia has “turned out to be better than expected,” according to the country’s central bank. The regulator has decided on Friday to keep its key rate at 4.25 percent per annum.

The bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina said at the first board meeting this year that “the economy is bouncing back rather steadily” and that “given the current positive trends” the bank has maintained its outlook on GDP growth for 2021 at three-to-four percent. The inflation forecast has been upgraded to 3.7-4.2 percent.

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“Furthermore, the economy may reach its pre-pandemic levels already by late 2021, and not by mid-2022, as we'd assumed earlier,” Nabiullina said. “This will become possible primarily as a result of a less significant decline in 2020.”

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