MOSCOW, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Russian economy grew 1.6 percent year on year in the first half of 2018, Russia's Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) said Friday, citing preliminary data.
The figure is slightly lower than the estimate of the Russian Economic Development Ministry, which forecasted the economic growth in the first half of 2018 to be 1.7 percent.
Rosstat previously recorded an increase of Russia's GDP growth at 1.8 percent in the second quarter, higher than the 1.3 percent registered in the first quarter.
In July, the Russian Central Bank raised its estimate for Russia's GDP growth in the second quarter of 2018 to 1.8 percent to 2.2 percent from the previous 1.0 percent to 1.4 percent, on account of the additional contribution by hosting the World Cup tournament.
