The Bank of Russia raised its forecast for the average annual price of Urals oil to $50 in 2021 and 2022, up from a previous forecast of $45.

“The global economy is expected to grow faster owing to mass vaccination and additional fiscal stimuli in advanced economies,” Governor Elvira Niabullina said in a statement after the central bank’s Feb. 12 policy meeting. “This will strengthen external demand for Russian exports.”

The Bank of Russia’s outlook for the price of its flagship Urals crude oil blend in 2023

was unchanged at $50 per barrel.

Niabullina cautioned that the Bank of Russia’s forecast remained “conservative given the high uncertainty about a potential further spread of the pandemic.”

The central bank estimates a faster recovery in demand for oil may lead to an increase in oil output rather than oil prices, she said.