VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
“The financial distress followed by a broader economic crisis is a serious trial for the global oil and gas industry. Oil prices plummeted to a quarter of the summer level August through November. This naturally affected the gas market, as gas prices are linked with oil. However, since the gas market is more inert, it is bound to be more severely hit by the crisis than even the oil sector, and may require more time to regain pre-crisis operation levels.”
“Russia will see a 6% GDP growth by the end of this year, even despite the problems. People's real incomes will have grown by around 7%; the growth in January-October was 7.6%. Eleven-month inflation was 12.5% and is expected to hit 13.5% in 2008. We have also seen an economic slowdown in the past few months.”
“The declining global prices of oil, metals and other commodities Russia traditionally exports, may still lead us to a negative foreign trade balance. This is a factor of pressure on the national currency. Nevertheless, we are determined to do our best to prevent sharp fluctuations of the rouble. Russia has sufficient reserves for that.”
“On the upside, industrial production will show some overall growth by the end of this year: it went up 4.9% in January through October (0.6% in October alone). Yet, as I have said, a number of sectors are currently forced to slash production to reduce costs. Our metals and chemical industries, building materials production and engineering were hit the hardest because they depend heavily either on exports or on investor demand.”
“When oil prices were high, we took most of oil companies' windfall profits away from them and into the budget - through export and customs duties and taxes, as much as 80% and sometimes even 90%. It was thanks to these revenues that we formed most of the country's gold and hard currency reserves, which today, as I said earlier, are the third largest in the world - $450 billion. They are our "safety cushion" and allow us to make things easier during the crisis for millions of people.”
“What is particularly important for us is the results of our efforts in the social sphere. The increase in take-home wages will be approximately 12.6% and pensions slightly more than 12% - 25% in nominal figures. Industrial production growth will be nearly 5% (4.8%).”
“We have problems with inflation. The target figure was slightly above 12%, but annual inflation is likely to be 13%, because of the global crisis and because the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry had to inject a huge amount of liquidity into the economy.”
“On the whole, our economic results in 2008 are positive even despite the negative effects of the global financial crisis. Let me just remind you of the figures. The economic growth target was above 7%, or more precisely 7.5%. The annual growth rate will be around 7%, possibly 6.8% or 6.9%. This is good.”
"We will not allow leaps in the economy and sudden changes in the exchange rate of the national currency. To secure the interests of both the citizens and the economy we will, if necessary - and we have done so before - we will carefully use the gold and currency reserves and the other funds at the Government's disposal."
"At the same time, we should proceed with the conviction that Russian money-both corporate and government money-should work within the Russian economy. Everyone involved-whether in mining, steel or machine production-should consider the current situation when formulating cost parameters, and should not forget imports as an alternative."
