MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. International rating agency Moody's expects Russia’s GDP to grow annually by 1.5% in 2017 and 2018, the agency said in a press release.

"Moody's forecasts that real GDP growth will increase by 1.5% per year in 2017 and 2018, with private consumption and investment spending supported by gains in household real incomes and gradually easing monetary policy. Still, an ageing population is among the constraints expected to prevent Russia's potential growth from expanding in the absence of fundamental structural reforms," the press release said.

Moody’s expects that the general government deficit will narrow to 1.8% of GDP by 2018 from 3.7% of GDP in 2016, "driven mainly by a reduction of the deficit at the federal level, while other budgets, including the regions, should be broadly balanced."

Earlier, Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said that the growth of Russian GDP in the second half of the year may exceed 2% in annual terns. The IMF, in turn, assessed the growth prospects of the Russian economy at 1.5% per year.