Putin called de-dollarization inevitable – News – Economics – Kommersant

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting on economic issues. He argues that Russia prevented a sharp decline in the economy and stabilized inflation. According to him, the Russian Federation is coping with pressure from Western countries, and their “tactics of economic blitzkrieg did not work.”

Mr Putin said Russia’s GDP contraction had slowed to 4.3% and economic activity was on the rise. The inflation rate in the country after the peak value in April fell to 14.1%, and “there is every reason to expect” about 12% by the end of the year, the President believes. According to him, “the economy is gradually stabilizing, leveling off, entering the growth trajectory.”

“Russia is confidently coping with external pressure, and in fact, one might say, with financial and technological aggression from some countries. The tactics of the economic blitzkrieg, the onslaught they were counting on, did not work,” Vladimir Putin is convinced. He believes that the government “promptly implemented effective protective measures.”

Vladimir Putin also noted that in the country’s leadership “disputes are common” about how to create a “safety cushion” when “the well-known and inevitable process of de-dollarization is going on in our country.”

Mr. Putin remindedthat the unemployment rate in the country is at historical lows: in May-July it reached 3.9%. In July, the reduction in industry amounted to 0.5%, while the decline in GDP slowed down to 4.3%, the President listed. He added that in August “bank lending to the economy, the real sector and the population also revived.”

According to Mr Putin, the state of the Russian budget is “significantly better” than in the economies of most G20 and BRICS countries. “The actions of our, to put it mildly, ill-wishers are largely unpredictable and impulsive lately. They are clearly unprofessional, and therefore impulsive, which means that the more we must work in our own logic, keep the initiative, ”he says.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, G20 GDP growth slowed to 0.7% in the first quarter. The international agency Moody’s predicted GDP growth for the G20 countries in 2022 by 2.5%, in 2023 – up to 2.1%. Russia’s GDP, according to agency assessment, will decrease by 7% this year and 3% next year. Ministry of Economy evaluates decline in Russia’s GDP for 2022 by 3%.

Bloomberg agency reportedthat a report was prepared for the Russian government, according to which Russia may face a longer and deeper economic recession due to sanctions. Two of the three scenarios show that Russia’s economic downturn will accelerate in 2023. In the Ministry of Economy, such a development of events called “working scarecrow”.

On the problems in the Russian economy – in the material “Kommersant” “Demand is not enough even for supply”.

Laura Keffer