Russia’s economy is on track to outperform all advanced economies this year in a devastating blow to Western nations which have sought to economically isolate and punish Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Figures published by the International Monetary Fund show the Russian economy is expected to grow 3.2 per cent in 2024, exceeding the forecast growth rates for the U (2.7 per cent), the UK (0.5 per cent), Germany (0.2 per cent) and France (0.7 per cent).
Russia says Western sanctions on its critical industries have made it more self-sufficient and that private consumption and domestic investment remain resilient.
The country has also managed to continue exports of oil and commodities to the likes of India and China, where burgeoning populations have kept shipments robust.
Coupled with an active military industry, which has expanded significantly during the war as defence spending and production rocket, it puts Russia on a path for a strong economic performance.
Commenting on the growth, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told CNBC: “What it [the growth data] tells us is that this is a war economy in which the state — which let’s remember, had a very sizeable buffer, built over many years of fiscal discipline — is investing in this war economy.
“If you look at Russia, today, production goes up, [for the] military, [and] consumption goes down. And that is pretty much what the Soviet Union used to look like. High level of production, low level of consumption.”
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