Macroeconomic developments have been very favorable since early 1999, strengthening in important areas lately. Real GDP has more than recovered from the recession that followed the 1998 crisis and the recovery is gaining momentum, with recent data suggesting that real GDP is growing at an annual...

The 2008 Article IV Consultation with the Russian Federation highlights that the Russian banking system has proven to be relatively resilient in the face of worldwide turmoil. The central bank is still intervening heavily in the foreign exchange market, and Russia’s banking system is still...

The Russian economy has improved after the recession, but recovery is fragile. Executive Directors appreciated the pre-crisis policy of taxing and saving oil revenues in a stabilization fund, which had created significant space for fiscal expansion, monetary easing, and extraordinary liquidity...