Russia registered a 4.9% YoY GDP increase in Q2 2023, marking the first such expansion since the invasion of Ukraine in Q1 2022 resulted in international sanctions. Russia’s central bank sees this as a positive indicator of recovering domestic demand and foreign trade. Meanwhile, Russia’s inflation rose to 5.2% YoY in August 2023 from 4.3% in July. This rise in inflation is higher than market expectations and may trigger interest rate hikes by the central bank to meet its 4% inflation target by 2024.