Putin says beneficial mtge rate can be reduced to 7% annually

ST. PETERSBURG, Jun 17 (PRIME) -- The interest rate of beneficial mortgage loans can be reduced to 7% annually, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

“The central bank decreases the key rate. That is why I think it is possible to reduce the beneficial mortgage rate once again, now to 7%,” he said.

The program of subsidized mortgage loans will be in effect until the end of 2022, Putin also said.

RUSSIAN ECONOMY

Putin said that Russia should assess the current state of the economy as honestly as possible and believe in its abilities.

“I want to stress that to make progress we must assess the situation as honestly and realistically as possible. We also need to be self-consistent in our conclusions and, of course, believe in our abilities, it is very important,” he said.

Putin said that anti-Russian sanctions are “crazy and ill-sighted”, their purpose was to destroy Russia’s economy, but they failed. Russia’s inflation continues to decrease from the peak of 17.8% to the present 16.7%, and the economic dynamics stabilize.

He added that the inflation target of 4% annually still remains.

The mantras about the U.S. dollar worth 200 rubles and other Western forecasts are only a part of information war, Putin said.

The government’s work to reduce inflation continues, he added. “I am sure that we will achieve a positive result,” he said.

Putin said that it is important to provide affordable long-term credits in the economy.

“The largest sums of credits are maintained, they are 12 million rubles for Moscow and St. Petersburg and 6 million rubles for the other regions. I should add that we need to improve affordability of long-term financial resources, credits for the economy,” he said.

The government also needs to encourage industrial production and stimulate internal demand, he said.

Putin said that state development corporation VEB.RF’s project financial factory will receive 120 billion rubles from the National Wealth Fund to encourage Russia’s business activity and market mechanisms.

He also said that pressure on the business should be reduced including abolishment of planned checks and milder legislation on detainment of businessmen, and that Russia’s economy should develop basing on private business activities.

Putin hopes that a new beneficial regime for Russia’s industrial clusters will begin from January 1, 2023.

He suggested launching a program of industrial mortgage with an interest rate of 5%.

He also added that he sees no prerequisites for deflation of fertilizers.

FOREIGN POLICY

The decision to initiate a special military operation in Ukraine was forced and necessary, Putin said.

“The West has principally refused to fulfill the obligation it had accepted earlier. It appeared to be impossible to reach any new agreements. In the situation, in light of rising risks and threats, Russia’s decision to carry out a special military operation was forced, difficult, but, of course, forced and necessary,” he said.

Everyone who continues to work with Russia are experiencing pressure from the U.S. and Europe, Putin said.

The Western partners have deliberately undermined global traditions, including business reputation, inviolability of property and trust in global foreign currencies for the sake of their geopolitical illusions, he added.

The present changes in the economy and the international policy are tectonic and revolutionary, Putin said.

“New powerful centers have formed on the planet over the past decades, and they assert themselves louder and louder. Each of them develop their own political systems and social institutions, implement their own models of economic growth, and, of course, have the right to provide their national sovereignty,” he said.

“I am speaking about objective processes, really revolutionary and tectonic changes in the geopolitics, the global economy, the technological sphere, the entire system of international relations,” he added.

Putin said that no cliches work in the politics and in the economy, as well as in the ethical and cultural spheres, although Western states attempt to impose them.

The European political leaders have hurt their economy with their own hands, the prices for food and other consumer goods, electrical power and car fuel grow there, he also said.

The E.U.’s direct losses from the sanctions can amount to U.S. $400 billion in 2022, and the union will lose its global competitiveness for years to come because of its policy, he added.

Putin is sure that rising inflation on the global commodity markets is a result of the G7’s policy, and the rising global prices for fertilizers and food, which can lead to hunger in poor countries, are an absolute fault of the U.S. and the E.U.

Russia is ready for cooperation on equality terms, and will continue to cooperate with Western companies that stay on the Russian market despite unprecedented pressure, he said.

Russia is able to increase its food and fertilizers exports significantly with grain exports of up to 50 million tonnes in the next agricultural season, Putin also said and added that Russia does not in any way prevent exports of Ukrainian grain.

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