Russia is unlikely to attain its declared gross domestic product growth target of 4.5 percent in the next few years, Erik Berglof, chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said on Friday at an annual EBRD meeting.
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told the meeting that the country's GDP would reach $2.3 trillion by 2015 expanding quicker than the rest of the world by about one percentage point.
Berglof said Russia's current growth was only supported by high prices for oil, the country's key export.
He also said that Russia, unlike other emerging countries, was facing capital outflow, which stood at $21 billion in the first quarter of 2011 after about the same figure in the fourth quarter of last year.
The international financial crisis hit Russia most compared with other Group of 20 states, and the country needed further reform to reach such ambitious growth rates, Berglof said.
Russia's official GDP growth forecast stands at 4.2 percent in 2011. In April, the Economic Development Ministry cut its forecast to 3.5 percent in 2012 and 4.2 percent in 2013 from 3.9 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. In 2014, the ministry forecasts 4.6 percent growth.
ASTANA, May 20 (RIA Novosti)
