Russian economy to shrink 4.5 percent in 2009: World Bank

MOSCOW: Russia's economy will contract 4.5 per cent in 2009 from the year earlier due to a worsening global financial outlook and low oil prices, the World Bank said on Monday.

"With a much worse global financial outlook and oil prices in the 45 dollars a barrel range, Russia's economy is likely to contract by 4.5 per cent in 2009, with further downside risks," the Bank said in its latest economic report on Russia.

The World Bank blamed the acceleration of the slowdown in Russia in 2009 on the decline in global demand, the fall in commodity prices, and the tightening of credit available to companies.