May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s economy expanded for the first time since 2008 in the three months through March as the world’s biggest energy producer rebounds on an oil-funded stimulus program and record-low borrowing costs.
Gross domestic product rose an annual 2.9 percent in the first quarter after contracting 3.8 percent in the last three months of 2009, Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina said at a meeting in Moscow today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 12 economists was for 4.8 percent growth. GDP shrank 7.9 percent in 2009, the biggest decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The statistics office is due to publish official GDP data later today.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last month said Russia’s recession “is over” after 3 trillion rubles ($99.6 billion) in stimulus spending left the economy “confidently showing signs of recovery.” Russia is poised for the world’s “biggest bounce,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch said last month, and estimates output may grow 7 percent in 2010 as companies rebuild stocks and stimulus spending supports demand.
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