WASHINGTON, July 3. /TASS/. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) notes that inflation in Russia declines but believes its economic growth is slowing down dramatically, IMF Director of the Communications Department Julie Kozack said.

"What we see is that the Russian economy is now slowing sharply. Inflation is easing, but is still high, and Russia, like many countries, is affected by high risks and uncertainty. In our April WEO [World Economic Outlook - TASS], we projected growth to slow to 1.5% in 2025 and recent developments since April suggest that growth may even be lower," she said.

"And we will, like for many countries, we will be updating our forecast for Russia in the July WEO update, which will come in a few weeks," Kozack noted.

"With respect to monetary policy, as I said, inflation remains high. Annual inflation is above the Central Bank of Russia's target, but we do, based on our April forecast, we do expect inflation to come down and to decline over time," the IMF spokesperson added.

The slowdown the IMF sees in Russia reflects several things, she noted. "First, tight policies; the other factors are cyclical factors. So coming off a period of overheating, you can you often see a cyclical slowdown, and that is what we are seeing in Russia, and also the fact that oil prices are lower, which is also affecting Russia as well, and we also do see some impact from tightening [anti-Russian] sanctions," Kozack said.