The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by 9.6 percent in the first 10 months of 2009 as compared with the same period last year, said an official from Russia's Economic Development Ministry on Monday.

Oleg Zasov, acting director of the ministry's macroeconomic forecasting department, said meanwhile that the GDP has been rising on a month-to-month basis for five months.

"Growth in October compared with September was 0.3 percent," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had said earlier the contraction of Russian GDP this year may be lower than the expected 10 percent and fall between 8 to 8.5 percent.

He said the country's economy had indicated signs of recovery, "yet it would be too soon to conclude that the crisis has been over, as several sectors still face remarkable difficulties at present."

(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2009)