MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. Analysts polled by the Bank of Russia improved their expectations for Russia's GDP growth and revised their 2023 inflation outlook upward, the regulator said.

The forecast on the growth of Russia's economy was revised from 1.5% to 2.2% in 2023, while expectations for the next three years remained unchanged, with annual increases of 1.5%.

The median inflation outlook for Russia this year has been raised from 5.7% (in July) to 6.3% and from 4.3% to 4.5% in 2024. Analysts expect inflation to return to the target level of 4% in 2025 and stay flat in 2026.

Experts also lifted the forecast for the key rate of the Bank of Russia from 7.9% per annum earlier to 9.3% per annum on average in 2023. The median estimate for the neutral key rate stayed at 6% per annum.

Analysts also lowered expectations for the ruble exchange rate. The forecast for 2023 is 85.5 rubles per dollar, 89.9 rubles per dollar in 2024, and 90.8 rubles per dollar in 2025.

The consolidated budget of Russia is expected to cut the deficit in 2023-2024, 2.3% of GDP and 1.6% of GDP respectively.