Zee Beam News

 Russia's GDP growth will drop to 5.8 percent this year, against 6.8 percent in 2004, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe said in its Economic Survey of Europe 2005. The commission forecast an economic slowdown from 7.9 percent in 2004 to 6.4 percent this year for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Decelerating growth rates will prevail in all the large CIS economies - Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine, the report says. Ukraine’s GDP is expected to grow 6.5 percent, down from last year’s 12.4 percent. A 7.9 percent growth is forecast for Kazakhstan, against 9.3 percent in 2004; and Belarus' GDP is projected to be 9 percent, down from 10 percent last year. The Economic Survey of Europe 2005 is prepared for the UN Economic Commission for Europe session scheduled for February 22-25 in Geneva. Last year, the country's GDP grew 7.1 percent, and the economy ministry expects a 6 percent growth for 2005, against the 6.3 percent projected in the budget. According to preliminary estimates, Russia's GDP grew 4.4 percent in January 2005, compared to the same period last year, economy minister German Gref said at a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with cabinet ministers on Monday. Industrial production was up 0.1 percent in January, Gref said, noting that “economic growth is connected with manufacturing growth and rising consumer demand.” Sales increased 10 percent in the country last month, but investment dipped slightly. Gref reported an inflation rate of 0.7 percent in the first two weeks of February.