If you switch on Russian state TV today, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Russian economy is booming.
A presenter on the Rossiya-24 channel did admit that the dollar exchange rate had reached an eye-watering 101 roubles – but, he went on to insist, the Russian economy was still doing marvellously well. Russian GDP – up! Oil and gas revenues – growing!
And in today’s copy of Komsomolskaya Pravda, the biggest-selling daily newspaper in Russia, an article on page 3 declared: “The Russian economy takes a sharp upward turn.”
But the plummeting rouble will still hurt.
It is now at its lowest for 16 months. Pressure is growing on the Russian economy, as imports increase faster than exports and military spending grows.