Russia’s GDP to grow more than 2% this year, finmin says

Russia’s economy will grow more than 2% this year, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the TASS news agency on Monday, and the federal budget deficit will reach 2.0%-2.5% of gross domestic product.

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Siluanov said the Russian rouble’s recent weakness had been driven by the country’s trade balance, and the predictability of the exchange rate was very important to the ministry.