MOSCOW, May 13 (Reuters) – Russia’s economy is on track to grow by nearly 4% in 2021, the upper boundary of the previously expected range, the central bank’s head of monetary policy, Kirill Tremasov, said on Thursday.
The Russian economy is recovering from its sharpest contraction in 11 years, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a sharp drop in the oil price.
In forecasts issued last month, the central bank said that, after a 3% contraction in 2020, the economy was on track to grow by 3.0-4.0% in 2021, and by 2.5-3.5% in 2022.
It also raised its benchmark interest rate to 5% in April and has said it is ready to make lending even more expensive if necessary. (Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Anna Rzhevkina; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
