If oil prices remain stable, Russia is likely to post economic growth next year of betwen 4% and 5%, Arkady Dvorkovich, a senior economic advisor to President Dimitry Medvedev said on Nov. 7.
The International Monetary Fund on Nov. 6 lowered its 2009 forecast for Russian growth to 3.5% from the 5.5% projection made on October 8.
Dvorkovich said that if "oil prices fell sharply, by half their present level for example, which in theory can't be ruled out, then I think the IMF figures are possible."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
