Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned on Tuesday that the country’s economy is at risk of sliding into “deep recession” next year.

Medvedev, speaking at a United Russia party meeting, said the government will not back away from its spending plans, otherwise, the country’s economy could nosedive.

Economists have in previous weeks predicted that Russia’s energy-dependent economy will experience serious economic decline in 2015.

Chris Weafer, a senior partner at Macro-Advisory Ltd, an economic and financial consulting firm in Moscow, told Mashable "a recession in 2015 is unavoidable."

The country’s currency, the ruble, has fallen to historic lows against the dollar in previous weeks, making it the worst performing currency in the world, after Ukraine’s hryvnia. That has sent consumers scrambling to buy up big-ticket items, such as automobiles, choosing to invest in durable goods rather than unreliable Russian stocks.

Clients watch cars in a dealership in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. Following the collapse of the Russian currency, the ruble, Russians flocked to buy cars and durable goods.

At the same time, banks across Russia reported a surge in withdrawals amid the ruble’s collapse, and the central bank raised interest rates to steady the currency. On Tuesday, it was up 2% to 54 against the dollar.

In an attempt to prop up the ruble, Russia on Tuesday ordered five major state-controlled exporters to sell excess currency reserves.

"The government is in a survival mode for now," Weafer said. "It is trying to stabilize the financial system and the ruble while at the same time issuing this very clear guidance that the next six months will be tough for everybody in Russia."

Russian economist Andrei Movchan, writing in Slon.ru, painted a grim picture of what is likely to come next year.

In 2015, he said, consumers must “get used to” living on 30% to 40% less income, which will mean a steep decline in consumption and imports. “We will not see large bankruptcies … but the stock market will remain depressed.”

The main difficulty, he continued, will be in Russia’s banking sector, “where even large-scale recapitalization and regulatory holidays will not save most of the banks from the consequences of the consumer credit crisis, and the growth of defaults in the corporate sector.”

Russia’s tourism industry, including hotels, restaurants and cafes, as well as retail will take severe hits.

Medvedev suggested that the U.S. and EU are to blame for Russia’s economic woes. He said the Russian economy is worse off now than it was during the 2008 crisis because “a number of countries are effectively hampering the development of our economy.”

PM Medvedev warns #Russia faces deep recession. Moscow can't change oil price; can change #Ukraine policy, which could => easing sanctions. — Steven Pifer (@steven_pifer) December 23, 2014

Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March and its support of the pro-Russian separatist insurgency in the country’s east have taken a heavy toll on the Russian economy. But, for one of the world’s biggest producers of oil, so has the fall of oil prices.