Russia returned to growth in 2017 after two years of recession but the figure released less than two months before the presidential election fell short of government targets, official statistics published Thursday showed. Gross domestic product grew 1.5 percent last year after contracting 2.8 percent in 2015 and 0.2 percent in 2016, Rosstat state statistics agency said.
Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin said repeatedly over the course of the year that he hoped for a figure of 2 percent. The end of 2017 saw an economic slowdown, however, particularly in industrial production. In 2015 and 2016 Russia experienced its longest recession since Vladimir Putin came to power at the end of 1999. The crisis led to a speedy drop in Russians' real wages and was provoked by a crash in oil prices in 2014, along with international sanctions imposed over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.
Russia only emerged from the recession in late 2016 with a tepid 0.3 percent expansion in the fourth quarter. The 2017 growth figure pales in comparison with the growth figures of more than 7 percent due to soaring oil prices seen during Putin's first two terms in office from 2000 to 2008. It will not be enough to push up people's real wages, which have fallen for four consecutive years.
Putin has set a goal to exceed global growth, forecast by the International Monetary Fund as 3.9 percent this year, and has warned of stagnation caused by lack of reforms. Ahead of the March polls, the president has called on numerous economists to come up with measures to invigorate and diversify the economy, but since the country emerged from recession, this has become a less urgent priority.
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