http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/business/russia-forecasts-a-recession-in-2015-signaling-a-toll-from-sanctions-and-oil-prices.html 2014-12-02 15:19:22 Russia Forecasts a Recession in 2015, Signaling a Toll From Sanctions and Oil Prices Moscow revised its forecast for next year to show a contraction of 0.8 percent, compared with a previous projection of 1.2 percent growth. === MOSCOW — After months of insisting that Russia could weather sanctions and plunging The Ministry of Economic Development, which publishes the government’s economic outlook, on Tuesday revised its forecast for 2015 to show a contraction of 0.8 percent, compared with a previous projection of 1.2 percent growth. The ruble dropped against the dollar, having opened at 52 to the dollar and slipping to 53 in afternoon trading on Tuesday. That continued its nose dive in recent months, driven by Russians’ fears of economic isolation and their eagerness to change rubles into dollars or euros to move wealth out of the country. So far this year, the ruble has fallen more than 40 percent against the dollar. The Russian stock market index Micex also dropped on the announcement, but it regained the loss later in the afternoon. Also boding ill for the Russian economy was the The combination of sanctions and plummeting oil prices is catching up with Russia’s economy, wobbly in the best of times for its overreliance on commodity exports. Western sanctions over Russia’s annexation of the Crimea Peninsula and its backing of rebels in eastern Ukraine have crippled Russian banks by restricting them to short-term credit. Oil and natural gas make up about 60 percent of Russia’s export earnings.