Russian govt cuts 2009 growth estimates

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MOSCOW, Dec 1 (AFP): Russia's economic development ministry significantly downgraded next year's growth forecast, but denied falling oil prices would spark an economic crisis, Ria Novosti news agency reported yesterday.
The economy would grow between 3.0-3.5 per cent in 2009, deputy economic development minister Andrei Klepach was quoted as saying-far less than the up to 5.7 per cent growth predicted by the country's finance minister last month.
Still, "the drop in oil prices to 50 dollars (a barrel) does not create a crisis," Klepach was quoted as saying.
He also revised downward growth for 2008, to between 6.8-7.0 per cent compared to 7.3 per cent previously estimated.
The government's forecast for oil, revised downward earlier this month, predicts crude prices of 50 dollars a barrel for next year, rising to 55 dollars in 2010 and 60 in 2011.