Putin says Russia’s economic growth should exceed global rate

MOSCOW, Dec 25 (PRIME) -- Russia will achieve the level of economic growth that will exceed the pace of the global economy, President Vladimir Putin said at the United Russia party meeting on December 23.

“Economic crises, as I’ve already said, external restrictions did not allow us to reach economic growth rate higher that global economic growth. But we by all means should do it. And we will do it,” he said.

Russia has managed to overcome economic problems that were thought to be insurmountable, Putin said.

Russia needs to lower the poverty rate and achieve a sustainable growth of peoples’ incomes, the president said.

“We should certainly continue work to decrease the number of people who have incomes below the living wage, to reduce poverty, whose level, mass character and scale pose a threat to the stability and unity of our society,” Putin said.

“We should achieve long-term sustainable increase of citizens’ real incomes, raise pensions and social support,” he said. “We certainly need to ensure the future development of the pension system, so that current pensioners, those, who have retired today, and those who will retire later, know that everything is reliable and stable in this sphere.”

Russia should create a new labor market and a flexible system of professional education, he added.

Putin also said that Russian companies should enter the global market.

“Our successful and growing companies should enter the global market and become global champions,” he said.

He also said that many aspects of the Russian tax system require changes in order to ensure sources for financing the country’s renewal.

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