The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that Russia’s economic growth in 2024 will exceed the US’ and EU’s

In response to heavy Western sanctions and the war in Ukraine, Russia’s economy shrank 1.2% in 2022, although less than the 2.1% dip analysts had forecast

Since then, though, Russia’s economy has rebounded strongly, culminating in 5.5% annualized growth for the third quarter of 2023

By contrast, the EU’s economy grew .1% in Q3 as many of its members approached recessions

This week, a series of reports have shed further light on the resiliency of Russia’s economy

On Tuesday, the Russian Central Bank (CBR) reported that Russian banks made a record $37B in profits in 2023

Those profits – up roughly 16 times from 2022’s total – are in large part due to generous mortgages that Russia’s government is offering homebuyers

Although general interest rates on Russian mortgages hover around 14%, Russia’s government is offering them at as low as 6% to young families

That contributed to a 34.5% surge in total mortgages last year, driving the banks’ record profits

Then on Wednesday, the IMF released a report forecasting that Russia’s economy will likely grow 2.6% in 2024, up 1.5 percentage points from the IMF’s forecast last October

The 2.6% figure is slightly lower than what many analysts predict was Russia’s 3% growth in 2023

By contrast, the IMF expects the US economy to grow 2.1%, Germany’s .5%, and the UK’s .6%

Analysts widely attribute Russia’s stronger-than-expected economic growth to high government and military spending, which is injecting cash into the economy

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Russia’s growth “an amazing result,” adding, “[The West is] supposed to be smothering and pressuring us from all sides”

Russia’s economic performance has caused critics to question the effectiveness of Western sanctions, particularly as several of Europe’s largest countries are facing imminent recessions

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