'Signs of Improvement': Recession in Russian Economy May Soon be Over

The latest data from Russia shows that the darkest days for the Russian economy may soon be over. Analysts say that after a long period of recession the economic situation in Russia is expected to stabilize in the near future, Business Insider reported.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, Russia’s GDP shrank 3.8 percent year-over-year, according to the data from the Russian Statistics Agency published on Friday.

British think tank Capital Economics said that the actual number may be lower when "one-off factors" are considered.

One of those factors is a boom in household consumption in the fourth quarter of 2014, amid the falling ruble.

"The key driver of the sharper fall in Q4 GDP compared to Q3 was a steeper slump in household consumption. However, this was the result of unfavorable base effects as consumer spending boomed in Q4 2014 on the back of panic-buying spurred by the collapse of the ruble," Capital Economic’s analyst Liza Ermolenko was quoted as saying.

Thus, the GDP outlook may have finally turned out to be more positive, the article read.

In addition to consumption growth, the Russian economy is showing other signs of improvement against the previous year. The slump in fixed investments lessened, and exports rose.

"Putting all of this together, today's figures confirm that underlying conditions in the Russian economy improved in Q4. And more recent monthly activity data suggest that this continued in the first quarter of this year with output probably contracting by around 2.5 percent year over year," the analyst said.