With oil prices recovering, growth in the Russian economy may be twice as high as official government estimates, the country’s finance minister said. The Central Bank of Russia this week reported a net contraction for full-year 2016, though the level of decline has been less severe in the latter half of the year. The oil-dependent economy faced dual strains from the low price of oil and economic sanctions, but Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the overall outlook has improved. Speaking with state broadcaster Rossiya, the minister said his projections for growth were better than the official expectation for gross domestic product of 0.6 percent in 2017. “We believe this figure may be almost twice as high — about 1-1.2 percent — fairly feasible rates of economic growth,” he said. In a year-end press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin referenced figures closer to official […]