Analysts saw optimism in the IMF forecast for Russia’s GDP growth

The Russian economy will grow by 0.3% in 2023 after declining by 2.2% in 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts in its January review. In October, the fund expected Russia’s GDP to fall by 3.4% at the end of the year, and by 2.3% in 2023.

This assessment turned out to be much more optimistic than the official forecasts of the Russian authorities. According to the expectations of the Ministry of Economic Development, by the end of 2023, the economy will decline by 0.8%. The Bank of Russia forecasts a decline in the range of 1-4%. Auditor of the Accounts Chamber Dmitry Zaitsev told Vedomosti in December that the decline in the economy in 2023 could be about 1%. At the end of December, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov assumed that GDP dynamics would be in the range from zero to minus 1%.