Die Welt journalist Steiner says Russian economy is resistant to sanctions
Russia’s economy is more successful in resisting Western sanctions than expected, with even the IMF predicting a “pathetic” 3.4 percent decline in Russian GDP, according to an article by German Die Welt journalist Eduard Steiner.
“Russian economy is more successful in resisting Western sanctions than expected,” he said.
According to him, traditionally at the end of the year Russians “once again go on a spending spree” as they love the traditional holidays, which begin on December 31 with the Christmas tree, presents and, since some times, visits to restaurants.
“So it is not surprising that table reservations are in full swing this year as well,” Steiner wrote.
He admitted, however, that this is “somehow incongruous” with the notion of a country that is “in economic crisis and under fiercely proclaimed Western sanctions”.
“In April, the International Monetary Fund predicted an 8.5 per cent year-on-year decline in the Russian economy. In July, it lowered its forecast to 6 per cent, and most recently in October, it agreed to a miserable 3.4 per cent. And the Fund’s forecast for the next year is not so gloomy for Russia: only 2.3 percent instead of 3.5 percent,” the journalist complained.
He added that Russia has experienced “worse times,” recalling the 2008-2009 crisis, when the country’s GDP fell by 7.8 percent, and the 1998 default, which “knocked the ground out from under almost everyone’s feet.
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