MOSCOW (Sputnik) — There is hope that the Russian economy will stabilize in 2016, and growth will begin in 2017-2018, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Wednesday.
"We hope to stabilize the economy this year and begin to grow in 2017-2018", Dvorkovich said, speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia.
Dvorkovich added that to adapt to the new economic conditions Russia needs to take a number of measures, including adjustments in the budget and investment mechanisms.
The Russian economy is experiencing a slowdown caused by a sharp decline in global oil prices and, to a lesser extent, by Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its alleged role in the internal Ukrainian conflict – a claim the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.