16 April 2026
Vladimir Putin demanded an explanation from the government and the Central Bank as to why the economy is performing worse this year than not only experts and analysts expected, but also their own forecasts, and demanded urgent measures to restore economic growth. This is Putin’s second complaint in a month about the weakness of the Russian economy.
According to the Ministry of Economic Development, GDP in the first two months was 1.8% lower than in January-February of last year. The Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences estimated a 1.5% year-on-year decline for the quarter. Meanwhile, the Central Bank’s forecast for GDP growth in the first quarter was 1.6%.
The Ministry of Economic Development cites the calendar: January had two fewer working days than a year ago, and February had one fewer. Adjusted for this, GDP remained flat year-on-year in January and increased by 0.3% in February. Putin is unconvinced: “These are, of course, objective circumstances, but it’s clear that they are far from the only factors determining business and investment activity in the country.” Manufacturing and industrial production in general, as well as the systemically important construction sector, suffered losses, Putin lamented. According to Rosstat , construction contracted year-on-year by 16% in January and by 14% in February.
Business activity is not growing this year, according to the Central Bank’s enterprise monitoring . The business climate indicator (BCI) calculated based on this data was 0.2 points in January and -0.1 in February (zero separates business activity growth from decline). The Central Bank’s financial flow monitoring recorded a sharp decline in revenues in most industries in the first quarter, which worsened each month.
The halt in economic growth threatens the budget, whose oil and gas revenues in the first quarter were 45% lower than last year. Non-oil and gas revenues, despite increases in VAT, excise taxes, and other taxes, grew by only 7%, while expenditures jumped 17%. As a result, the deficit for the quarter reached 4.58 trillion rubles and has already exceeded the planned budget for the entire year. The economic slowdown, contraction in demand, and increased debt servicing costs will reduce corporate profits and investment even compared to 2025, the Gaidar Institute noted . Therefore, it fears that the budget will collect fewer taxes than the authorities expect.
The World Bank notes that the decline in oil and gas revenues is not being offset by other revenues. It views the surge in oil prices due to the war in Iran as a temporary factor that may slightly improve the situation but does not change the overall trend of weakening growth. This was also noted by the Kremlin-aligned think tank CMASF: it raised its forecast for the average export price of Russian Urals crude oil this year to $81.6 per barrel, but economic growth in its scenario accelerates by only 0.5 percentage points at most and will not exceed 1.3% this year.
Significant acceleration of Russian economic growth is unlikely: interest rates remain high, and the Central Bank promises to maintain tight policy for a long time. Business activity has declined, with investments falling by 2.3% last year, and the Ministry of Economic Development expects a continued decline this year. The main source of investment is companies’ own funds, but profits are also falling . The Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEF RAS) has identified this as one of the key risks to economic development this year, along with budget constraints and slowing consumer demand.
The main growth is concentrated in the military-industrial complex, which is draining resources from the civilian economy. The growth in production in military-oriented industries is accompanied by a slowdown or decline in consumer goods production, according to the Gazprombank Center for Economic Forecasting. Civilian sectors of Russian industry accelerated their decline at the beginning of the year, according to the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting (CMASF) .
Therefore, most forecasts predict sluggish growth for the Russian economy, around 1%. Promsvyazbank, “against the backdrop of weak first-quarter results,” lowered its GDP growth forecast for this year from 1.5% to 1%. The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by the Central Bank in April remained unchanged: growth of 1%. The World Bank lowered its forecast to 0.8%, and only the IMF raised it from 0.8% to 1.1%.
The best thing for the economy would be an end to the war. But even that would bring relief, it wouldn’t solve the accumulated problems, noted Andrei Yakovlev, an associate researcher at the Davis Center at Harvard University, and Vasily Burov, director of the consulting firm Estonto Lab: “It won’t bring back all the people who left. It won’t restore the shattered trust of businesses in the state… It won’t create functioning institutions where they have deteriorated… It won’t reorient the economy from war rents to productive growth.”
This clown thinks he can order people to fashion the economy as he pleases. Well, let him. It’s disintegrating anyway.
Sorry, but I could not post the real title image from the Moscow Times. I simply can’t stand looking at his disgusting maggot infested dog shit face.
That is a killer pic, lol
Did nobody tell him that russia is on fire and wars are a costly business?
He is not aware of what’s going on outside his thick concrete walls.
Imagine the scene if they told him the real truth about the economy.
“Vladimir Putin demanded an explanation from the government…” isnt HE the government? This is eye opening to me….
What he means is, he needs someone to blame.
He is the government only when things are going as planned. When not, it’s others.
He’s a typical Leftist, they always blame others for their bad policy. Like Sir Focusser says, wars are expensive, especially when 3 days turns into 1500