Putin says sanctions main negative factor for economy

MOSCOW, Apr 18 (PRIME) -- President Vladimir Putin asked the central bank and the government to report on the measures preventing deterioration of Russians’ wellbeing on Monday and said that the sanctions pressure was the main negative factor for economic development.

"The pressure of sanctions, another instance of pressure of the Western countries has obviously become the main negative factor. The goal was to destabilize the financial and economic situation in our country fast, to provoke panic on the markets, a large-scale deficit of goods in the stores. But we can already say that this policy against Russia has failed," Putin said.

The president said that demand has started to stabilize after a period of panic, and that inflation is stabilizing too, although on April 8, it amounted to 17.5%, which is a significant figure.

Putin urged the government to monitor the situation in the economy and the labor market constantly and make decisions on time. "The government and the central bank have absolutely managed to do this thus far," he said. He separately praised the authorities for not introducing artificial pricing on the retail market.

He said that excessive compression of demand can be stopped both by budget measures and available loans for business.

The president said that Russia needs to accelerate transition to trade in the rubles and the national currencies.

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