(MENAFN) According to the World Bank's forecasts, Russia's economy is to shrink by 0.7 percent next year, with warnings that contraction would be worse if oil prices kept falling, Arab News reported.
The Bank said that its published estimations are based on the "most likely" scenario of crude prices averaging around USD78 in 2015. But if oil prices fell to USD70, the economy would shrink 1.5 percent.
Russia's economy has slowed in recent years, after gross domestic product (GDP) averaged 8 percent during Putin's first two terms in office from 2000 to 2008. In 2013, growth was just 1.3 percent.
This year, falling growth has been exacerbated by the impact of Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine and falling oil prices, the Bank added.
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