Russia's GDP grows 5% in July, 2.1% in Jan-July

MOSCOW. Aug 31 (Interfax) - Russia's GDP grew by an estimated 5.0% year-on-year in July after expanding by 5.7% in June, 5.8% in May and 3.6% in April and contracting by 0.7% in March, 2.6% in February and 2.7% in January, the Economic Development Ministry said in a report on the current situation in the economy published on Wednesday.

The ministry estimated that the economy grew by 2.1% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2023, compared to 1.6% in the first half.

GDP in July grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% from the previous month after expanding by 0.1% in June, the ministry estimated. Compared to the same period of 2021, GDP grew by 0.8% in July after growing by 0.3% in June.

The Economic Development Ministry's official forecast from April projects that GDP will expand by 1.2% in 2023, but the minister, president and prime minister have already said that growth might exceed 2%. The ministry is expected to revise its forecast in the next few days.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said recently that Russia's GDP could grow by more than 2.5% in 2023.

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) improved its forecast for Russia's economy on July 21 and now expects GDP to grow by 1.5-2.5% instead of 0.5-2.0% as forecast in April. The CBR expects GDP to grow by 3.6% year-on-year in the third quarter and 1.5% in the fourth quarter.

The consensus forecast of analysts polled by Interfax in early August sees the Russian economy growing by 2.1% in 2023.