NEWSWATCH: “Amid international pressure, Russia’s economy is a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly” – CNBC/Dawn Kissi

May 7, 2018 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, JRL NewsBlog, Population Disaster, Demographics

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

“… Russia ‘maintained strong growth underpinned by solid productivity, with a sustainable growth trend estimated at 2-2.5 percent,’ … [but] the rebound obscures … ‘one of the few countries in the world with negative population growth, which reduces their overall growth potential.’ The population shrinkage – by some measures at around 0.4 percent – dampens productivity, making growth above 2 percent difficult to sustain. … [In addition] Russia’s market is volatile, and the geopolitical risks have heightened that effect. Meanwhile, Moscow is notorious for presiding over an opaque, corrupt and oligarch-dominated economy that gets low marks from freedom watchers. …”