MOSCOW, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.5 percent year on year in the first nine months of this year, compared to 1.8 percent in the same period in 2017, Russia's Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) said Tuesday.
Rosstat previously recorded a slowdown of GDP growth in the third quarter of this year to 1.3 percent, from 1.8 percent in the second quarter. In the first quarter of this year, GDP grew 1.3 percent.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian State Duma, or lower parliament chamber, passed in a second reading the amendments to the 2018 federal budget, lowering its GDP growth expectations for this year to 1.8 percent from a previous 2.1 percent.
The revision resulted from "the announcement of the introduction of additional sanctions measures, increased volatility in financial markets, as well as accelerated capital outflows and rising yields of debt securities," according to an explanatory note by the Duma budget and taxes committee.
