Russia’s economy ‘in for very tough times’ despite improved growth outlook, IMF managing director says

In late January, the International Monetary Fund more than doubled its forecast for the pace of the country’s economic growth this year, raising it from 1.1% in October to 2.6%.

Despite this, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva sees more trouble ahead for the country of roughly 145 million.

“What it tells us is that this is a war economy in which the state — which let’s remember, had a very sizeable buffer, built over many years of fiscal discipline — is investing in this war economy. If you look at Russia, today, production goes up, [for the] military, [and] consumption goes down. And that is pretty much what the Soviet Union used to look like. High level of production, low level of consumption.”