As crude oil prices recover from last year’s historic decline, the Russian finance minister said the outlook for gains in gross domestic product have improved. Russia last year was producing oil at or near post-Soviet highs. According to economists at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russian oil companies were winning out because a decline in the value of the ruble made it economic to produce more oil for more revenue. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the ruble was overvalued at the moment. Looking ahead, growth in gross domestic production should settle between 1.5 percent and 2 percent, an improvement from previous estimates. “On the whole we agree that the economy will be growing faster than initially expected,” he was quoted by Russian news agency Tass as […]