Putin: Russia’s GDP should increase by 4.5% in 2021

MOSCOW, Dec 23 (PRIME) -- Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) should rise by 4.5% in 2021, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday during an annual news conference.

“We expect the increase of GDP at 4.5% this year, right now it stands at 4.6% taking into account the figures of November. The industrial output is growing by 5%, the processing by 5.2%. … Fixed capital investment rose by 7.6% in November, and this year we expect it to increase by 6% after a 1.4% decrease in the previous year,” he said.

Russia’s inflation should amount to 8% this year, and the foreign trade surplus should almost double to U.S. $184 billion from $94 billion in 2020. In addition to that, unemployment has decreased to 4.3–4.4%, lower than it was before the pandemic, he said.

In general, the work of the government and the central bank this year can be considered satisfactory. So far, the central bank has managed to find the middle ground in its monetary policy, and if it does not toughen the policy, situation in Russia will be similar to the situation in Turkey. Russia has to return to the inflation target of 4%, he said.

Russia also reached a record result in the construction industry in 2021, it built 90 million square meters of housing this year, Putin said.

The Russian economy turned out to be more adaptable to the pandemic shocks that many other global economies, the GDP contracted only by 3%, and the economy has already recovered, he said.

One of the major goals for the government and one of the major growth drivers for the economy is to save the people. There are 81 million people of working age in Russia, and the amount should grow considerably until 2024–2030, he said.

Infrastructure is another growth driver for the country, and the government is working in this direction, he added.

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