Russia's Putin says cooling of economy in 2025 is a 'conscious' decision

MOSCOW, Dec 19 (Reuters) - An economic slowdown in Russia this year to 1% growth from 4.3% in 2024 was the result of conscious actions by the central bank to bring down the inflation rate, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Putin told his annual press conference that, as a result of these actions, the inflation rate will slow to between 5.5% and 5.7% in 2025 from 9.5% last year. He said all the armed forces' needs could be financed from the state budget.