Putin says Russia's economy likely shrank by 2.5% in 2022

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President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia's economy likely shrank by 2.5 per cent in 2022 but was outperforming expectations.

Putin, who was speaking at a meeting of top officials including the finance minister and central bank chief, said real wage growth needed to be stimulated.

“Some experts in our country, not to mention foreign ones, predicted a decline of 10 and 15 per cent, or even 20 per cent,” Putin said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and resulting Western sanctions have upset some sectors of the Russian economy, restricting its ability to export natural gas and cutting off Russian banks from the SWIFT network.