Coronavirus to shrink Russian economy by over 5% this year – Moody’s

International rating agency Moody’s expects Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) to drop by 5.5 percent in 2020 as the pandemic has resulted in the near-shutdown of the global economy.

The agency has sharply lowered its forecast for the Russian economy since its previous report released at the end of March. At that time, Russia’s national GDP was expected to grow 0.5 percent this year. A gradual recovery is likely to see Russian GDP pick up by 2.2 percent in 2021, the agency said in its report on Tuesday, as cited by Russian media.

The pain inflicted by the coronavirus crisis has worsened Moody’s forecasts for all of the G20 countries. The economic growth among the advanced economies is set to contract by 5.8 percent in 2020, while oil prices are expected to remain low. 

“[The] coronavirus pandemic will drive a deep recession in 2020 and leave some longer term marks on the global economy,” the agency said. “Even with a gradual recovery, 2021 real GDP in most advanced economies is expected to be below pre-coronavirus levels.”

Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the global economy is expected to shrink by three percent in 2020. The global lender added that the coronavirus-related crisis is likely to result in the worst recession since the 1930s.

“It is very likely that this year the global economy will experience its worst recession since the Great Depression, surpassing that seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago,” the IMF said.

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