Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Economic Development Ministry predicted Friday the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011 will amount from 4 to 4.4 percent, local media reported.
Putin, speaking in International Investments Forum in Sochi, said that Russia's inflation rate would be 7 percent this year.
He reminded that in 2009, Russia's GDP dropped by 7.9 percent, inflation reached 9 percent.
Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina also forecast the annual GDP growth in 2010 by 4 percent.
Russia's GDP rose by 3.7 percent for eight months of 2010 and by 2.4 percent in August, according to the minister.
August was the first month since May when industrial output in Russia was above zero and reaches 0.1 percent, thus Nabiullina called August "a good month", admitting that in agricultural sector growth was negative by 9.6 percent./.