Sanctions Former Minister of Finance: The Russian economy will take “years” to recover from sanctions

In Russia it will take “several years” to rebuild its economy if the economic sanctions imposed by the West last longer, says the former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin.

Kudrin, Director General of the State Audit Office, served as Russia’s Minister of Finance for eleven years in the early 2000s. He is considered a critic of Russia’s economic policy.

Kudrin told Russian media on Wednesday, according to news agency AFP, that the reconstruction of the Russian economy will take about two years if sanctions remain at current levels.

Even after that, Russia will have to rebuild its economy, according to Kudrin, “for several years”, as the country will have to replace a large number of imported products that are prevented by import sanctions.

Tuesday Kudrin, meanwhile, according to the news agency Reuters, estimates that the Russian economy will shrink by more than ten percent this year. That would be the biggest drop in Russia ‘s gross domestic product (GDP) since 1994.

Kudrin told the Russian media that the Russian Ministry of Finance is updating its economic forecast. According to him, the official forecast ends in a contraction of more than ten percent.

The ministry’s previous business cycle forecast forecast economic growth of 3 percent for the current year. Last year, Russia’s GDP grew by 4.7 percent.

The World Bank predicted earlier in April that Russia’s GDP would fall 11.2 percent this year.

Russian the economy is struggling with accelerating inflation and capital flight caused by economic sanctions. The state is also threatened with insolvency.

Kudrin said inflation in Russia could rise to 17-20 percent by the end of the year.

According to data released on Friday, annual inflation in Russia was 16.7 per cent in March, the fastest rise in seven years.

Salt and flour prices have risen by 10-20%. Sugar and basic vegetables have risen in price by as much as 50-60%.