The Russian Central Bank said that modest GDP gains are attributed to low investment growth and weak October performance figures.

Russia’s GDP growth rate in 2017 will be closer to the lower limit of the forecast interval of 1.7 to 2.2 percent, according to the Bank of Russia materials made public on December 1, 2017.

The regulator noted that the low growth rate is associated with a lower-than-expected investment demand and weak October statistics. The updated macroeconomic forecast put out by the Bank of Russia will be published in the December issue of the Monetary Policy Report.

In the third quarter of 2017, the annual GDP growth rate of slowed down to 1.8 percent from 2.5 percent in the second quarter. According to the Central Bank’s estimates, the reduction in economic growth was due to the slowdown in investment demand and a current assets contraction.

The regulator also said that in the third quarter, investment increased by 3.1 percent year-on-year, which is lower than what the Central Bank had estimated earlier.