Russia needs more investment to outpace global economic growth – Putin

12 Feb, 2020 14:57 / Updated 4 years ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the government to make the country's economic growth more stable and eventually bring the national gross domestic product (GDP) above the global average.

The Russian economy expanded by 2.3 percent in the last quarter of 2019, bringing annual GDP growth to 1.3 percent, the Russian leader said as he met with government officials on Wednesday to discuss the domestic economy and last year's results.

To support economic development, the country needs to ensure that investment inflows remain strong, said Putin. The Russian government and the central bank should team up to fulfill this task, he added.

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"The main priority on our economic agenda is to launch a new investment cycle, to achieve annual investment growth of at least 5, and preferably 5–7 percent, so that next year economic growth rates will exceed global ones," the president stated, according to an official record of the meeting.

According to the World Bank forecast, global growth is projected to edge up to 2.5 percent this year and reach 2.6 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, the international regulator expects Russia's GDP to rise by 1.6 percent this year, meaning that it needs to add more than 1 percent in 2021 to match Putin's target level.

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