ST. PETERSBURG, May 29. /TASS/. Consumer demand in Russia is gradually recovering, though it has been slightly below pre-crisis levels so far, Director of the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Department Kirill Tremasov told a press conference on Monday.

"We have seen consumer activity recovering since the beginning of this year <…> though if compared with pre-crisis levels consumer demand is still slightly weaker so far, though it is approaching the pre-crisis levels," he said.

Tremasov mentioned growth of car loans and unsecured lending as one of signs of consumer demand recovery.

Weak consumer demand was registered in Russia last year starting the second half of March, he noted, adding that the situation did not change until the end of the year.

Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov said earlier that the development of the situation in the Russian economy would depend on the recovery of consumer demand and on policies to ensure growth of lending as he commented on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) upgrade of Russia’s GDP forecast from 2.3% contraction to 0.3% growth.