The Russian economy is growing at a faster pace than projected, with GDP expected to soar 3.9% this year, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announced on Friday.
Siluanov told TV channel Russia-24 that GDP growth in the first half of the year amounted to 4.7%, which is “a very good figure.”
“We see investments growing, at around 8%, real disposable incomes of the population are also increasing,” the minister stated.
“The estimates for the dynamics of the economy for this year are also higher than we initially included in our forecasts … Last year, the figure was 3.6%, it was high, and this year we will exceed it,” he said.
Budget revenues are growing above last year’s level, having increased by 4.7 trillion rubles ($52 billion) to date, according to Siluanov. He attributed the jump to the growth of oil and gas revenues and to income from the domestic economy.
The country’s budget deficit is expected to be at about 1.1% of GDP by the end of 2024, according to the…