Economic growth in 2018 exceeds Bank of Russia's forecast
In 2018, physical GDP rose by 2.3% slightly beating the Bank of Russia’s expectations
However, agriculture’s contribution to economic growth turned out to be negative in 2018 vs previous periods. It was negatively affected by a lower grain harvest and slowing growth of livestock output (primarily poultry and eggs) caused mainly by the saturated domestic market and unfavourable epizootic developments in some regions.
Estimates suggest that annual GDP growth in the first quarter of 2019 will be