The US Treasury assessed the reaction of the Russian economy to sanctions

US sanctions have had a significant effect on Russia, but its economy is doing better than expected, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at a press conference in Bangalore, India.

“While by some indicators the Russian economy is holding up better than initially expected,” said Yellen (TASS quote).

She added that “Russia is suffering in terms of its budget and not getting what it needs.” At the same time, according to Yellen, the Russian economy is becoming more and more isolated, follows from the transcript of the speech of the head of the American department, published on the website of the department.

President Vladimir Putin during his address to the Federal Assembly declaredthat the West has deployed not only a military, informational, but also an economic front against Russia. Western countries have tried to disconnect Russia’s financial system from communication channels, deny access to export markets in order to hit revenues, collapse the ruble and provoke devastating inflation, the president said. At the same time, according to Putin, the Russian economy and governance system turned out to be much stronger than expected in the West. Already in March 2022, a package of measures to support business and the economy was launched for a total amount of about 1 trillion rubles, the head of state pointed out.

The decline in GDP at the end of 2022 amounted to 2.1%, although back in February-March, Russia was predicted to collapse the economy by 20-25%, Putin said. According to him, Russian business has rebuilt logistics and strengthened ties with predictable partners, while the share of the ruble in foreign trade settlements has doubled and amounted to a third, and together with the currencies of friendly countries – more than half.