The great Russian recession of 2015 is showing some signs of easing.
The country reported its latest GDP figures, and the economy only shrank by 4.1% from a year ago last quarter, an improvement from the 4.6% decline in the second quarter.
To be clear, Russia still has a lot of obstacles to a full recovery. For one, oil prices remain in the dumps, which doesn’t bode well for the country’s hugely important oil and gas industry.
And though inflation isn’t increasing, it’s not coming back down from its recent astronomical heights either.
This all comes on top of the sanctions Russia’s still dealing with because its alleged involvement in the war in Ukraine. The Central Bank of Russia, per the state news agency, said in a report that it isn’t so optimistic that conditions will turn around in the near term:
“We believe that the lowest point of deceleration of investment activity has not yet passed. … According to our estimations, the monthly increase in investment in fixed capital (adjusted for seasonal factors in September) was negative at -0.4% (month-on-month), which does not yet show beginning of the hike of investment activity,” the report said.