IMF keeps Russia’s 2018 economic growth forecast at 1.7% as Putin set to meet Lagarde

The International Monetary Fund kept its forecast for Russian economic growth this year steady at 1.7 percent despite Western sanctions against Russia, the IMF said on Wednesday as Vladimir Putin, the country’s president will meet Christine Lagarde, the fund managing director during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum to discuss IMF reforms, the situation in the global economy and possibly the sanction policy of certain countries, according to Yuri Ushakov, a presidential aide.

Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, the IMF’s mission chief to Russia, said the sanctions imposed on Russia were not the only factor in the IMF’s calculation and that it also took into account oil prices that were currently higher than the fund expected.

The IMF said it expected economic growth in 2019 to stand at 1.5 percent, also unchanged from the previous projections.

“An exchange of opinions on the situation in the global economy is anticipated. By the way, our country shares many assessments of the Fund in respect of remaining risks for the stability of the global economy and shares criticism by the Fund management concerning unilateral protectionist measures were undertaken by a number of countries in defiance of WTO norms and rules,” Ushakov said.

“We expect the President will raise the topic of reforming the International Monetary Fund. From our point of view, the current distribution of quotas to the capital of the Fund favoring Western nations is not completely fair and do not reflect, in particular, the specific ratio of rapidly developing economies,” the official said.

“The topic of sanctions is also among the ones that can be discussed,” Ushakov said, adding that he does not know exactly whether this issue is raised during the meeting.