Economic security

The Russian GDP forecast for 2015 was downgraded from plus 0.2 percent to a 4.8 percent decline by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It’s due to falling oil prices and geopolitical tension that could mean a regional economic downturn.

The EBRD has revised its September’s forecast saying the main reason for it was a plummet in oil prices. The last forecast was made with oil priced of $58 per barrel.

“The halving of oil prices has added to the problems in Russia, whose economic growth was already slowing down amid uncertainty and weak investor confidence after the imposition of sanctions in 2014,”EBRD said in a report on Monday.

The bank said a sharp drop in oil prices and the depreciation of the Russian ruble are putting pressure on energy exporting countries and emerging markets which have close ties with the Russian economy.

 Decline in Russia’s GDP to cause domino effect in the region - EBRD