In the second quarter of 2017, the Russian economy increased in size by 2.5 percent in annual terms, according to the Russian Central Bank.

“On the basis of the information at its disposal, Rosstat has carried out a preliminary estimate as to the dynamics of the gross domestic product in the second quarter of 2017. This year’s second quarter gross domestic product constitutes 102.5 percent of the figure reported in the corresponding period of 2016,” the agency stated on August 2, 2017. As such, Russia’s GDP growth accelerated after increasing at a rate of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of the current year.

Earlier, Russia’s Ministry of Econo-mic Development predicted economic growth from April to June 2017 at 2.7 percent. Central Bank analysts expected that third quarter 2017 growth could reach 1.5 to 1.8 percent as “the increase in investment and consumer demand promotes accelerated GDP growth.”

At the same time, the Central Bank has kept unchanged the 2017 forecast for Russia’s GDP growth, maintaining its prognosis at 1.3 to 1.8 percent, well below the official forecast of the Economic Development Ministry, which now stands at two percent. Morgan Stanley analysts predicted earlier that the growth rate of the Russian economy in 2017 will be 1.5 percent. The International Monetary Fund has set its forecast for Russia’s economic growth in the current year at 1.4 percent. The international rating agency Fitch has revised its Russian GDP forecast for this year upward to 1.6 percent from 1.4 percent, a figure that the company predicted in March.

In line with the Central Bank’s second assessment, Russia’s GDP in 2016 was 86 trillion 43.6 billion rubles (USD1.47 trillion) in current prices. A GDP decline was registered at 0.2 percent.