MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian central bank on Wednesday forecast gross domestic product to grow by 2-3% in the fourth quarter of this year, compared to 3.2% in the third quarter.
Russia’s economy contracted in 2022 and growth now relies heavily on large-scale government spending on arms production as Moscow funds the conflict in Ukraine, while the central bank has warned that the economy is overheating.
Russia’s central bank hiked its key interest rate by 200 basis points on Oct. 25 to 21%, the highest level since the early years of President Vladimir Putin’s rule, when Russia was recovering from the chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
