Central Bank Downgrades Medium-Term Economic Growth Forecast | Business | The Moscow Times

Central Bank Downgrades Medium-Term Economic Growth Forecast | Business | The Moscow Times:



"The Central Bank said Tuesday that the country's output may grow by 1.7 to 2.0 percent from 2015 to 2016, an outlook that underscores the weak state of the economy.



The forecast, in a quarterly monetary policy report, implies a downward revision compared with its earlier predictions. The bank said in the previous quarterly report that it saw Russia's medium-term growth potential as 2 to 2.5 percent.



The bank predicted growth of 1.5 to 1.8 percent this year, down from a forecast of 2 percent made last quarter.




Central Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina said last week that the bank had revised down its forecast because it was surprised by last year's poor growth rate of 1.3 percent.



In its report, the Central Bank said it expected annual growth in household consumption to fall to 3.1 to 3.3 percent in 2014 from 4.7 percent in 2013. Fixed-investment growth was forecast at 1.4 to 1.6 percent in 2014, up from 0.3 percent in 2013."



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