The decline in the economy of the Russian Federation in January - February amounted to 1.9%

The Russian GDP in January - February 2015 decreased by 1.9% compared to the same period last year. This was said with reference to the data of the Ministry of Economic Development by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Interfax reports .

“It is clear that we all expected this, given all the well -known circumstances. They took certain steps, made certain decisions to minimize the consequences of such problems. There is a decline, but it probably turned out to be less than even moderate optimists predicted it, ”the head of government noted.

Medvedev added that the new oil price in the level of $ 50 for the barrel was real in the budget was real, TASS reports . The prime minister recalled that the budget for the current year was “promptly adjusted based on a more realistic assessment of the average annual oil cost”, despite the fact that many called for a higher price.

In January 2015, Russia's GDP in annual terms decreased by 1.1%, taking into account cleaning of seasonal factors. Without cleaning from seasonality, the decline was greater - 1.3%. In February, the reduction in GDP accelerated to 2.3% of the same month last year.

According to the budget of the Russian Federation for 2015-2017, signed by the president in December last year, in 2015 the country's GDP should grow by 1.2%. The budget was reversed based on the forecast for Urals oil price at $ 100 per barrel.

According to the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development adjusted in March, in 2015 the Russian economy will decrease by 2.5%. At the same time, the Web predict a decline by 4.7%, and at the Institute of Gaidar and the RANEPA - by 6.8%.