Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 10.9 percent year on year in the second quarter of 2009, the country's top statistics body said on Tuesday.

However, the economy grew 7.5 percent in the same period from the first quarter, the Federal State Statistics Service said.

Last month, Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said Russia's GDP fell 10.1 percent in the first half of this year. She predicted that the economy may contract 8 percent to 8.5 percent in 2009.

The Russian economy, heavily dependent on exports of energy and raw materials, has been hit hard by the global financial crisis.

The country is estimated to run a budget deficit of 9.4 percent of GDP this year, its first deficit in a decade.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2009)