Putin says Russia is curbing economic growth to control inflation, recession 'far away'

MOSCOW, Sept 18 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia is deliberately slowing its economic growth in order to suppress inflation and that the world's second largest oil exporter was far away from a recession.

"It is a deliberate action. It is a slowdown in growth in exchange for curbing inflation and maintaining macroeconomic stability," Putin said during a televised meeting with top lawmakers.

A graph published in Russian central bank's report earlier in September showed two consecutive quarters of gross domestic product (GDP) decline in quarter-on-quarter terms, aligning with the common definition of a technical recession.

Putin downplayed concerns about a downturn, saying the Russian economy remains far away from recession.

"I think that a recession is still a long way off, and the labour market reflects this," Putin said, echoing Central Bank's Governor Elvira Nabiullina stance.

The United States, Europe and allies have imposed more than 25,000 different sanctions on Russia over the 2022 war in Ukraine and the 2014 annexation of Crimea in a bid to sink Russia's economy and undermine support for Putin.

Russia's war economy grew at 4.1% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024, far faster than G7 countries, but it is slowing sharply under the weight of high interest rates.