Russia Forecasts a Recession in 2015, Signaling a Toll from Sanctions and Oil Prices - Nyt



The Ministry of Economic Development, which publishes the government's economic outlook, on Tuesday revised its forecast for 2015 to show a contraction of 0.8 percent, compared with a previous projection of 1.2 percent growth. The combination of sanctions and plummeting oil prices is catching up with Russia's economy, wobbly in the best of times because of its heavy reliance on commodity exports. In the face of the weakness, the ruble has been in a free fall, driven by Russians' fears of economic isolation and their eagerness to change rubles into dollars or euros to move wealth out of the country. The ruble opened at 52 to the dollar and slipped to around 53 in trading on Tuesday. So far this year, the ruble has fallen more than 40 percent against the dollar.

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