Economic growth is expected to pick up across the EBRD regions this year and next, supported by higher oil prices and Russia’s recovery from recession, according to the EBRD’s latest Regional Economic Prospects report.

On the back of developments in Russia and on the commodity markets, growth in eastern Europe and the Caucasus is also forecast to accelerate and activity in Central Asia is likely to stabilise at slightly higher levels.

Turkey, however, is expected to see a slowdown in growth during 2017, partly reflecting security and geopolitical risks that have also led to a downward revision in EBRD forecasts for countries in the southern and eastern Mediterranean.

On average, economic growth in the 36 EBRD countries of operations is seen rising to 2.4 per cent in 2017 and to 2.8 per cent in 2018, compared with expansion of 1.8 per cent last year.

The latest forecasts reveal a narrowing of an East-West growth gap that has characterised the economies of the EBRD regions in recent years following a stronger upturn of growth in the East.

Countries further east had previously suffered from weak commodity prices and the Russian downturn and countries to the west had benefited from the softer oil price and accommodative monetary policies in the eurozone.

More at EBRD.com.