MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. The International Monetary Fund has revised its outlook for Russian GDP drop to 4% from 4.1% in 2020 and from 2.8% to 2.5% for the recovery in 2021, IMF says in the Staff Concluding Statement of 2020.

"All in all, we project the economy to contract by about 4% this year, and to expand by some 2Ѕ percent in 2021, assuming the COVID-19 situation gradually normalizes," the Fund says. "Nevertheless, the economy will remain well below full employment for the foreseeable future," according to the Statement.

"Activity in the coming months could prove weaker if stronger lockdowns need to be imposed, in turn bringing about new layoffs and further stretching firms’ balance sheets. Furthermore, geopolitical tensions cloud the outlook," IMF noted. "Over the medium term, however, recent positive news on vaccine effectiveness have lowered the risk of a prolonged crisis with no medical solution at hand," Fund experts added.