Russian GDP up 4.8% in Q3

Russia's GDP grew 4.8 percent in the third quarter this year, the state statistics agency Rosstat said Monday. This figure was more modest than the earlier forecast by Economic Development Ministry, which had predicted the growth in the third quarter would exceed 5 percent. In October, the ministry also said the GDP would grow in the fourth quarter of 2011 by 3.8-3.9 percent. According to the Rosstat, the higher pace of GDP growth in the third quarter corresponds with the low starting base of the same period in 2010, when the economy has grown by 3.1 percent only. The GDP growth in the second quarter was 3.4 percent. The government's official forecast says the GDP will grow 4.1 percent in 2011 as a whole, while the IMF is more optimistic with its 4.3-percent forecast.