First modification:
Despite continued Western sanctions packages on Russia in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow’s economy has been resilient. This week the IMF projected that the country will grow by 0.7% in 2023, four tenths more than previously expected, and this Friday the Ministry of Economy also improved the growth projection of Russian GDP for this year.
The European Union, US and Australian sanctions on Russia appear to have failed to fully serve the purpose for which they were deployed. Moscow’s economy has surprisingly resisted and this Friday, April 14, positive data arrived in the energy area, which confirmed the good Russian performance despite the consequences of the war.
In March, Russia reached its highest level of oil exports in three years, when its total shipments increased by 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 8.1 million bpd, the highest data since April 2020, according to the monthly report of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Despite this optimistic data for Moscow and that oil revenues showed a recovery of 1,000 million dollars for a total of 12.7 million dollars, the country is still 43% below when compared to data from a year ago.
Exports of petroleum products, destined for the European Union (EU), nearly doubled between February and March to 300,000 bop, but were down 1.5 million compared to prewar season levels .
It must be remembered that the EU deployed an embargo on oil deliveries that were transported from Russia by sea in December 2022, as well as a price cap per barrel for exports from around the world that was set at $60 per barrel. , a decision that was agreed with the group of the G7 plus Australia.
Some time later, in February, the bloc of 27 added a ban on Russian oil items and agreed with the G7 countries (Germany, France, the United States, Canada, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom), a maximum price of $100. per barrel for more expensive fuels like diesel and $45 for lower quality products like fuel oil.
Positive forecasts for Russia
He Tuesday On March 1, the International Monetary Fund modified its growth forecasts for the nation of Vladimir Putin, assuring that the country will grow this year by 0.7%, four tenths more than its previous forecast of January.
According to the agency, Russia’s growth in 2023 is the result of a significant remnant of activity in 2022, the year in which very strong fiscal measures have been taken and in which much of the fiscal spending was related to military spending..
However, the Fund assured that the country could experience a much larger budget deficit and a smaller surplus this year.
In the same optimistic line, this same Friday, the Russian Ministry of Economy improved its forecast for growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2023 to a growth of 1.2% from the contraction of 0.8%.
With media and Reuters
