World Bank Finds Economic Comeback Weak

Russia's recovery from the 2008 crisis is weak relative to its international peers and slower than after the financial crash of 1998, the World Bank said Wednesday as it lowered its 2012 growth forecast. 

There are 20 percentage points between projections on the eve of the 2008 crisis for Russia's gross domestic product in 2012 and today's reality — compared to 7 percentage points for high-income OSCE countries and 15 points for developing European Union economies, according to the World Bank's latest Russian Economic Report. 

After the 1998 financial shock, the country's GDP took seven quarters to recover to its former levels, the World Bank said. After 2008's contraction, it took 14 quarters. And although growth was 4.3 percent last year, it has not come close to pre-2008 highs of above 7 percent.

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