By Laman Zeynalova
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 5. Russian economy is
rapidly slowing and the risks are rising, Julie Kozack, Director,
Communications Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
said during a briefing, Trend reports.
“Russian economy is now slowing sharply. Inflation is easing,
but is still high. And Russia, like many countries, is affected by
high risks and uncertainty. In our April WEO, we projected growth
to slow to 1.5 percent in 2025. Recent developments since April
suggest that growth may even be lower. And we will, like for many
countries, we will be updating our forecast for Russia in the July
WEO update, which will come in a few weeks,” she said.
With respect to monetary policy, Kozack noted that inflation
remains high.
“Annual inflation is above the Central Bank of Russia’s target.
But based on our April forecast, we do expect inflation to come
down and to decline over time. In April, we had expected inflation
to return to target in the second half of 2027. And so, we see that
for the Central Bank policymaking is going to need to balance the
fact that inflation is still high, and that unemployment is still
very low in Russia, with the fact that the economy is rapidly
slowing and that risks are rising. So that will be the challenge
for the Central Bank that we see in its making of monetary policy
in the near future,” she explained.
Kozack pointed out that the slowdown in Russia reflects a few
“First, tight policies. The other factors are cyclical factors.
So, coming off of a period of overheating, you often see a cyclical
slowdown. And that’s what we’re seeing in Russia. And also, the
fact that oil prices are lower, which is also affecting Russia as
well. And we also do see some impact on the economy from tightening
sanctions,” she said.