MOSCOW, May 2 (RIA Novosti) - A government report released Wednesday indicated that Russia has improved on all major macroeconomic indices in 2007 as compared with last year, posting a lower inflation rate and a boost in economic growth and trade.
According to the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, inflation dropped to 3.4% in January-March 2007, slipping on last year's figure by a factor of 1.5.
Trade turnover increased 15.2% year-on-year to $113.4 billion, including $17 billion (17.4% more than in 2006) with CIS countries and $96.4 billion (a 14.9% growth) with the rest of the world.
Gross domestic product grew 7.9% year-on-year, as against a 5% growth in the first quarter of 2006, the ministry said, adding that this year's GDP growth was largely due to heavier investment in the domestic economy, notably in the construction sector (a 22.7% increase year-on-year), retail trade (13.6% up on last year), and in processing industries (14.5% up).
