An unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in crippling financial penalties levied by the US and its European allies.
In March, Russian manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level since May 2020, as businesses struggled with rising costs and a drop in new orders. Western sanctions have effectively cut Russia off from the global financial system and new technology.
Experts think that is just the beginning of a major slide for the Russian economy this year.
The Institute for International Finance (IIF), a Washington-based think tank, estimated that Russian gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods produced in a nation, could plunge by 15% in 2022 and 3% in 2023 as a result of the sanctions, wiping out decades of growth. A contraction of that size would be about twice as sharp as the Russian recession during the global financial crisis in 2008.
