Russia's Economy is Recovering, Even Foreign Forecasts Favorable — Mishustin

The minister said that a 2.1% decline in the GDP in 2022 did distract some resources, but "still it is far from the catastrophe that our ill-wishers had been probably eager to see"

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin

© Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. The Russian economy is steadily recovering and even international organizations are predicting it will follow a positive trend, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Wednesday, while addressing participants in the Znanie educational marathon.

"Our economy is recovering steadily. Now even international organizations are predicting more positive dynamics for us over two years to come," he said, pointing out that in April the International Monetary Fund "revised upwards its assessment of Russia's economic growth by a factor of two."

Mishustin noted that inflation did not reach the 20%-level predicted for Russia, but was less than 12% by the end of 2022 and is now under 3%.

He recalled that in the spring of 2022, analysts predicted a double-digit slump in Russia’s GDP, but in reality "the decline, which is inevitable in such circumstances, was quite moderate."

Mishustin said that a 2.1% decline in the GDP in 2022 did distract some resources, but "still it is far from the catastrophe that our ill-wishers had been probably eager to see."

Mishustin stressed that forecasts of a 10% unemployment rate in Russia also proved wrong: it was at the 3.7% mark in December 2022 and dropped to an all-time low of 3.5% in February.

"All this shows that our economy is adjusting itself to external pressures and the general situation in the world," Mishustin said, adding that the collective West was trying to "turn its control of global infrastructure into a weapon."