The Russian economy is recovering from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic at a faster rate than expected, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said in a special briefing on Tuesday.

“In the case of Russia, we have seen a faster recovery. Thus, GDP growth in the first quarter is <...> stronger than expected and because of that it led to an upgrade, ”Gopinath said.

Russian GDP growth will be 4.4 percent in 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said earlier in its report on the outlook for global economic development. The IMF improved its estimate for this year by 0.6 percentage point from its April report.

At the same time, the Fund revised its outlook for 2022 to 3.1% from 3.8% in April. IMF experts also changed their assessment of the economic slowdown in Russia in 2020 from 3% to 3.1%.

“Of course, there are still challenges to overcome, the pandemic is not over, we have seen cases recover, vaccination rates <..> are progressing but coverage is still incomplete. So much remains to be done on this front, ”she noted.

“The recovery is happening sooner than expected. As already mentioned, we are seeing signs of this strength, and it is not only the manufacturing sector but also the reopening of the economy and the strength of the service sector,” Petya Koeva Brooks, said deputy director of the IMF’s Strategy, Policy and Review Department.