Russian industrial output slumps in November

Russia's industrial output slumped by 8.7 percent in November compared with the equivalent figure last year, the statistics office said Tuesday, fuelling fears of a recession in the country.
Industrial output -- a key indicator of growth trends -- also fell by 10.8 percent in November from October 2008, Rosstat said in a statement.
Some economists have said that Russia is now entering a recession and is set to record a contraction in growth in the fourth quarter 2008 but the government has insisted the country is still far off being in recession.
November 2008 was the first month in which a fall had been recorded in industrial output since early 1999, when the country was reeling from the effects of the 1998 economic crisis, the Interfax news agency reported.
The worst falls in November were seen in the metals and chemical sectors as well as in production of building materials. Russia's once booming real estate sector has been one of the worst victims of the crisis.
"While there had previously been some initial indications from the economic development ministry that industrial growth deteriorated dramatically, we still view the actual numbers as very negative," commented economists at Alfa Bank.
"The collapse has become clear," headlined the Kommersant newspaper, which published leaked industrial production statistics.
Russia has enjoyed a half decade of growth rates well over five percent but the global economic crisis has hit the country hard and is set to bring the good times to an abrupt end.
The deputy minister for economic development, Andrei Klepach, said on Friday the country had already entered recession but the government rapidly rejected his comments.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Monday that Russia was "not yet in recession", a state normally defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.
However several economists are predicting that Russia could experience a contraction in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009.