Bumper harvest contributes to Q3 economic growth hike

The Q3 data point to a slight increase in economic activity; however, these developments are in line with the Bank of Russia’s baseline forecast.  These are the findings published in the latest issue of ‘Economy: Facts, Assessments and Comments’.

The acceleration of GDP growth was largely contributed to by a high and steady rise in agricultural output. According to current expert estimates, total output of various crops, including grains, sunflower, sugar beet, and greenhouse vegetables, is expected to increase. The output of meat products (primarily, pork products) also continues to grow.

Overall, the upward trend in the output across a wide range of industrial products continued in 2019 Q3. However, the consumer and investment demand increased only slightly. The retail sales growth rate declined while growth in fixed capital investment remained slow.

The Bank of Russia maintains its 2019 GDP growth forecast in the range of 0.8–1.3%.