Official data showed that the Russian economy recorded a better-than-expected performance in 2022, despite the unprecedented sanctions imposed under the pretext of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
After the imposition of Western restrictions, leaders in Western countries expected the collapse of the Russian economy and the fall of the Russian currency to 200 rubles to the dollar, but the West's bet on stopping the wheel of the Russian economy did not succeed, as it is impossible for it to happen when the target economic system ranks 12th in the list of the most powerful economic systems around the world.
This was concluded by a number of experts when evaluating the performance of the Russian economy in the past year, and they indicated that the Russian economy succeeded in adapting to the severe restrictions that were imposed in 2022 thanks to the experience gained since 2014 in the face of sanctions, which numbered more than 14 thousand restrictions.
"The experience of sanctions in 2014 allowed Russia in many ways to quickly adapt to new conditions. As a result, the economic slowdown was not as deep as originally expected," said Olga Lebedinskaya, assistant professor at the Department of Statistics at Russia's Plekhanov University of Economics.
She added, "The central bank's measures maintained financial stability in the country, in addition to that, the positive balance of the current account of the balance of payments and the government's monitoring of the prices of commodities of social importance led to the stability of inflation."
She noted that the measures taken by the Russian government contributed to the stabilization of the macro-economy and industry.
Lebedinskaya's point of view is shared by the researcher at the Higher School of Economics, Georgi Ostapkovich, and according to him, the measures taken by the Russian Central Bank did not allow the ruble to collapse for a long time, and the Russian government provided great support to the business sector, which had a positive impact on the economy as a whole.
Experts also emphasized that despite the imposition of the most severe sanctions on Russia, the option of sanctions in confrontation with Moscow will not be an effective weapon due to the diversity of Russia's economy and its trade relations with major economies. They warned that the restrictions would be reflected on those who imposed them. As an example, the high inflation rates in Western countries were mentioned.
Yesterday, the Russian statistical agency, Ross-Stata, announced that the Russian economy declined by 2.1% last year, thus recording success in absorbing Western sanctions better than expected.
According to the estimates of the International Monetary Fund, which disappointed the West, the Russian economy recorded a decline in the year 2022 by 2.2% after expectations that it would fall by double digits and amid expectations that it would return to growth this year, as it expects growth by 0.3% and in the next year 2024 by 2.1%. .
Economist Alexei Bobrovsky said in an interview with RT that the Russian authorities took a set of measures after the West imposed sanctions on Russia, including the Russian Central Bank imposing restrictions and controls on the movement of capital, and these are the first measures that contributed to achieving the stability of the exchange rate.
He added that by the end of last year, stability had been achieved thanks to government measures, and he referred to the International Monetary Fund, which predicted in mid-2022 that the Russian economy would decline by 8%, but then issued more optimistic forecasts.
The expert believes that the increase in the money supply by about 20% at the end of the year is one of the main factors that supported the Russian economy. He stressed that the Russian authorities and government must continue to work and persevere to mitigate the impact of sanctions and stimulate economic growth.