Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

    MOSCOW, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Economic Development Ministry said on Thursday that it will review the 2009 Russian gross domestic product (GDP) forecast, when taking "quite realistic" IMF forecast of 6 percent into consideration, news agencies reported.

    No concrete figure was given as of the annual GDP forecast, the Interfax news agency reported.

    Andrei Klepach, a deputy minister, said Russian GDP fell 9.5 percent in the first quarter, and will fall 8.7 percent to 10 percent in the second quarter. He said that the GDP decline in March also equaled 9.5 percent, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

    The ministry also revised 2009 oil price up, from 41 to 45 U.S. dollar per barrel.

    The International Monetary Fund forecast on Wednesday that the decline in the Russian economy in 2009 will increase by 5.3 percentage points to 6 percent, and Russia will see GDP growth of 0.5 percent in 2010, 0.8 percentage points lower than the previous January forecast.