(NEW YORK TIMES) MOSCOW — After months of insisting that Russia could weather sanctions and plunging oil prices, Moscow has for the first time acknowledged that the economy would fall into a recession next year.
The Ministry of Economic Development, which publishes the government’s economic outlook, on Tuesday revised its forecast for 2015 to show a contraction of 0.8 percent, compared with a previous projection of 1.2 percent growth.
The ruble dropped against the dollar, having opened at 52 to the dollar and slipping to 53 in afternoon trading on Tuesday. That continued its nose dive in recent months, driven by Russians’ fears of economic isolation and their eagerness to change rubles into dollars or euros to move wealth out of the country. So far this year, the ruble has fallen more than 40 percent against the dollar.
