AFP/Getty Images Falling oil prices have chilled Russia’s economy.
MOSCOW — Russia’s economy minister said Saturday that the country’s gross domestic product is expected to shrink by 3% in 2015 with oil prices at $ 50 a barrel and an estimated capital outflow at $ 115 billion, Russian news agencies reported.
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The government previously predicted the decrease in GDP at 0.8%. Inflation in 2015 is now forecast to stand at 12%, up from the previous estimate of 7.5%, Alexei Ulyukayev said, Russian news agencies reported.
The announcement comes a day after the Russian central bank unexpectedly lowered its key interest rate by two percentage points, sending the ruble lower. Russia was also recently downgraded to “junk” level, below investment-grade, by the credit rating company Standard & Poor’s amid the mounting violence in eastern Ukraine.
