WASHINGTON, September 29. /TASS/. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its economic forecast for Russia as it projects recession of 3.8% in GDP for 2015 and of 0.6% for 2016 in its new analytical research prepared to annual meeting, TASS correspondent reports with reference to informed sources.

In end-June, IMF experts forecasted recession of 3.4% for 2015 and 0.2% growth for 2016 while in April the organization also projected the Russian economy will decline by 3.8% this year.

The downgrade is largely due to recent falls in oil prices on the global markets.

The IMF also expects inflation to reach 15.8% in Russia this year and 8.6% - in 2016.

All in all, the fund’s projections are in line with those given by the Russian authorities. The Central Bank said on September 11 it expects recession in Russian to stand at 3.9-4.4% of GDP this year and at 0.5-1.0% of GDP next year. Earlier the Economic Development Ministry slightly downgraded its projection on GDP decline for 2015 - to 3.6% from 3.3%.

The new report will be officially presented by the International Monetary Fund on October 6.