Report: Putin says Russia’s non-energy deficit critical
MOSCOW, Jan 11 (PRIME) – Russia’s non-energy budget deficit has widened critically, President Vladimir Putin told German newspaper Bild in an interview published Monday.
“When oil prices are high, it is hard for us to resist spending energy revenue on current needs. And our non-energy deficit rose, I think, to a very dangerous notch. Now, we have to reduce it (energy revenue spending) and this makes us healthier,” Putin said.
He said that investment of a high oil revenue “discourages own development, most of all, in high-tech industries.”
The Russian economy will gradually stabilize and restart growth, partially due to a state program of import substitution, Putin said. “And these are precisely, investments in highly technological spheres,” Putin said.
Putin also said that the introduction of sanctions against Russia was unwise, and the sanctions are not the most difficult factor for the Russian economy.
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