MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's industrial output plummeted 16.5%, year-on-year, in January-September 2009 amid the ongoing economic crisis, Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko said on Wednesday, citing preliminary data.
Khristenko said the year-on-year decline in industrial output accelerated in September, with production having decreased 12.5% in the first eight months of the year.
Khristenko said, however, that industrial output grew 1% in September month on month, which was an encouraging factor for the domestic economy.
The Russian government still projects industrial output to decline 11.4%, year-on-year, in 2009.
The global financial crisis forced Russia, which receives a large part of its revenues from oil exports, to gradually devalue the ruble amid capital flight and a fall in global oil prices, which declined from their peak of $147 per barrel in July 2008 to around $40 per barrel in early 2009, before climbing back to above $70 in recent weeks.
According to a forecast by the Russian Economic Development Ministry, Russia's GDP is expected to contract 8.5% in 2009 but grow 3% in 2011 and 4.3% in 2012.
