World Crisis Online

AFP

MOSCOW — Russia’s economy grew 4.0 percent in the first half of the year, continuing its recovery from the global crisis, but this was slightly below official forecasts, data showed on Tuesday.

The figures from the state statistics office were below mid-July estimates for growth of 4.2 percent in the first half, according to the economic development ministry.

The data showed industrial output up 9.6 percent in the January-July period compared with a year earlier as the country recovered from a severe slowdown sparked by the global economic crisis.

This year, the economy has been hit by the worst drought in decades, with many industrial companies shutting shop or cutting shifts as wildfires raged in western Russia, engulfing Moscow in a hazardous smog.

Economic Development Deputy Minister Andrei Klepach said earlier this month that the drought would cut at least 0.7-0.8 percentage points from 2010 growth as Russian harvests were hurt by the extreme temperatures.

The drought has destroyed one quarter of Russia’s crops, leading the government to slap a blanket ban on grain exports. Last year, Russia’s hydrocarbon-dependent economy was hard hit by the economic crisis, suffering a 7.9-percent economic contraction after growth of 5.6 percent in 2008.

But with the recovery of energy prices and a strong performance in the second quarter, the government forecast growth of 4.0 percent for all of 2010. Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund put this year’s growth at 4.25 percent and 2011 at 4.0 percent.

Russia will gradually scrap anti-crisis measures by 2015, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said at an annual business forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday.

“Russia will exit the crisis in late 2012, and we will phase out [anti-crisis] measures … by 2015,” Kudrin said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. (continue reading…)

HONG KONG, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Asian stocks rose for a fourth day in a row on Wednesday as Chinese factory output jumped to a 19-month high in October, while the ailing U.S. dollar hovered near a 15-month low. European stock markets were expected to open higher, according to financial bookmakers, and U.S. stock futures edged up, though further gains were becoming more difficult towards the end of the year and some investors look to take profits from this year’s rally. (continue reading…)

PRINCETON, N.J. — The president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Friday that the financial world can learn from the economic crunch of the past two years and become stronger. (continue reading…)