WASHINGTON, September 22 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Beresin) -The IMF expects Russia's GDP to grow by 5.5% in 2005 due to high oil prices on the international commodities market, head of the IMF mission in Russia Paul Tomsen said at a news conference late Wednesday.
According to experts, Russia will unlikely reach its targeted 6% growth without an upturn in inflation, which could hit 11.5% by year's end to surpass government expectations, Tomsen said.
The 2005 federal budget had an annual inflation rate of 8.5%, but the government later adjusted it to 10%, expecting it to drop 0.7% on 2004.
