Brighter times forecast for Russian economy
Russia's consumer price inflation, gross domestic product and the government's budget surplus will be higher than initially forecast, first deputy finance minister Alexei Ulyukayev said last week.
GDP will likely rise 5% this year instead of the expected 4% as inflation and the budget surplus exceeded earlier expectations, he said. "In the macroeconomics of the first half (of 2001), some events differed wildly from our initial forecasts, and based on this it will probably be necessary to revise the expected budget implementation figures for this year, and possibly revise the main parameters of the budget for next year," Ulyukayev said.
Inflation will be less than the 20.2 percent recorded last year and is likely to reach 16-18 percent instead of the 12-14 percent envisaged in the government's budget, he said.
