Russian export earnings rather flat; recovery in imports continues to stall

Central Bank of Russia balance-of-payments figures show that earnings from exports of goods and services, which had recovered fast in 2017−2018, were essentially unchanged in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier. This concerned both the energy category, which had seen a hefty rise in export prices, other exports of goods, as well as exports of services. Spending on imports of goods and services were unchanged on-year for the third quarter in a row. This has been the situation in goods imports for the past three quarters and Russians’ travel spending abroad for the last half year.

The current account surplus was still large in the first quarter, rising to more than 7 % of GDP. The net private capital flow out from Russia climbed, increasing to 4.5 % of GDP for the past four quarters.