ALMATY, March 17. /TASS/. The Russian economy continued to slow down at the beginning of this year, according to the Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) March macroeconomic review.
"EDB analysts note divergent economic trends in member countries in late 2025 and early 2026. The countries of Central Asia and Armenia maintained high growth rates, while the economies of Russia and Belarus continued to slow down," according to review released on the bank’s website.
"Russia’s GDP increased by 1% in 2025 after record growth rates in 2023-2024," EDB analysts said. "The [Russian] economy is supported by individual sectors of industry, trade, and construction, while a number of other sectors are demonstrating a decline in output amid a slowdown in domestic demand, in particular investment in fixed assets. In January 2026, economic activity contracted by 2.1% year-on-year due to a decline in the manufacturing industry. The rapid slowdown in inflation in Russia in 2025 driven by high interest rates and cooling demand was interrupted in January 2026 under the influence of one-off factors," according to the bank.
In its monetary policy, "the Bank of Russia has transitioned to a cycle of interest rate cuts from June 2025, having consistently reduced the key rate to 16% per annum." "The easing of inflationary pressure has allowed for an additional 0.5 percentage point reduction in February 2026, which creates conditions for easing monetary conditions. We allow for another rate reduction to 15% at the Bank of Russia Board of Directors meeting in March," experts said.
The Almaty-headquartered Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution investing in Eurasia to expand economic ties and promote the comprehensive development of its member countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In 2025, Uzbekistan joined the bank.