Russia acknowledges economy is in crisis

Russia’s government has acknowledged for the first time that the economy is in crisis, undermining earlier attempts by officials to suggest weakening growth could weather sanctions over Ukraine.

Moscow markets wait to see the full scale of western measures over the seizure of Crimea and support of its referendum to join Russia, after losing billions of dollars in recent weeks in state and corporate money. For weeks, Russian officials have said the clash between Moscow and the West over Ukraine that threatens economic sanctions and asset freezes would “weigh on the economy”.

Although not speaking directly about the impact of the conflict, deputy economy minister Sergei Belyakov said yesterday the economy was in trouble.