Russia warns of recession next year

Moscow: The Russian government has warned that the country's economy will enter recession next year.

The forecast released by the economic development ministry Tuesday was the first acknowledgement that the Russian economy will contract in 2015.

The forecast was revised from growth of 1.2 percent to a drop of 0.8 percent.

Disposable income is expected to decline by 2.8 percent against the previously expected 0.4 percent growth.

Russia's economy has been battered by low oil prices, the backbone of its budget and Western sanctions over its role in eastern Ukraine. That has led the national currency, the ruble, to drop by more than 40 percent this year.