Russian growth slows down for second month

Russia’s economic activity continued to slow for a second consecutive month in April, with the country’s GDP rising 3.7 percent year-on-year in April 2012 compared with 3.9 percent year-on-year growth in March, according to Economic Development Ministry data . “The slower growth in April is largely caused by industrial production dynamics and from the demand side by lower investment,” the ministry said in its monitoring report. Russia’s fall in industrial output slowed to 0.1 percent in April from 1.5 percent in March. Despite this, production in the mining sector, a key source of Russia’s budget revenues, declined by 0.2 percent and output in electricity, gas and water distribution went down by 0.9 percent. Retail trade turnover growth slowed to 0 percent in April from 0.3 percent in March and 0.6 percent in February, a factor which analysts said was attributable to negative dynamics of household real disposable money incomes in the first quarter of 2012.