The Russian economy will grow by 2.8% this year and expand slightly more slowly by 2.5% next year, a Vienna-based think tank said, quoted by DPA, BTA writes.
Vasily Astrov, an economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Research (WIIW), said Russian President Vladimir Putin “will not run out of money for the war”.
„For the Russian economy, the question is rather what comes next after the war, since now it is completely dependent on it,”, says Astrov. DPA points out that there is a serious increase in government spending, especially for the army.
Real wages in Russia are set to grow by almost 8% in 2023 due to a shortage of skilled labor, and personal consumption by 6.5%, the institute's report said. Gross domestic product grew by 3.6% last year despite massive Western sanctions.
The think tank projects the Ukrainian economy to grow by 3.2% this year, after growing by 5.3% in 2023. Ukraine's increasingly meager air defenses are weighing on growth as Russian airstrikes cut power to households and industry.
„Ultimately, everything depends on receiving adequate and timely military and financial aid from the West - in 2024 alone, Ukraine faces a financial hole of $40 billion,” says Astrov.