国际英语新闻：Russian economy contracts 7.9 percent in 2009

MOSCOW, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) slumped by 7.9 percent in 2009, the Federal State Statistics Service (FSSS) said on Monday.

Nevertheless, the contraction is smaller than the 8.5-percent drop which the Economic Development Ministry had estimated.

Preliminary data published on the FSSS website showed the Russian GDP stood at around 1.285 trillion U.S. dollars in 2009.

Russia, whose economy is heavily dependent on energy resources, has been hit hard by the global economic downturn as oil prices collapsed late 2008.

Russian leaders have repeatedly called for economic modernization driven by hi-tech industries and services, in order to ease the country's over-dependence on energy.

As for this year, experts predicted a bright outlook for the Russian economy.

Late last month, the International Monetary Fund said Russia's GDP is expected to grow by 3.6 percent in 2010, while the World Bank predicted the figure at 3.2 percent.

The international ratings agency Fitch has also upgraded its assessment of Russia's economy outlook from "negative" to "stable."