Russia’s Economics Ministry has lowered its 2013 forecast for the country’s GDP growth to 2.4 percent from 3.6 percent amid stagnating exports and faltering investment, Deputy Economics Minister Andrei Klepach said on Thursday.

The ministry cut its GDP growth forecast after Russia’s exports, a key source of budget revenues, failed to demonstrate any growth in 2013 while fixed capital investment growth was just 4.6 percent, Klepach said.

If the data for the first months of 2013 are extrapolated for the full year, Russia’s GDP growth is estimated at a mere 1.7 percent, Klepach said.

The Economics Ministry also expects net capital outflow to reach $30-35 billion in 2013 compared with its original forecast of 0-$10 billion, Klepach said.

Russia’s GDP grew only by 3.4 percent last year, the lowest since the deep recession of 2009, with weak demand for Russian exports in Europe.

Russia's newly-appointed Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said earlier this week Russia needed to rethink its commodity exports-based growth model, with a new emphasis on internal sources of development, diversification of the country’s raw material-based economy, increased investment and improvement in the investment climate.

RIA Novosti