Russian Industrial Growth to Hit Record High in 2000Russia's industrial production in 2000 will rise 9.2 percent, a record high of the last decade years, Russian First Deputy Industry Minister Andrei Svinarenko predicted Saturday.Compared to the 8.1-percent industry growth in 1999, more evident growth is being seen in almost all sectors of industry this year, with the best figures expected in light industry, ferrous metallurgy, engineering and metalwork, chemicals and petrochemicals, forestry, timber processing and pulp-and-paper, he told reporters in Moscow. By the end of this year, producer price inflation will stand at 32 percent, down from 67.3 percent in 1999, Svinarenko said, citing "primary official statistics." "The producer price growth is estimated at 20.2 percent, far slower than inflation. This could have a negative impact on consumer demand and, as a result, on the rate of industrial production growth in 2001, which could be about 4.5 percent," he said. However, capital investment in 2000 will increase 17.2 percent, which will help to soften such an effect, Svinarenko added. In the next year, investment will continue to grow under his ministry's efforts to attract Russian banks to major investment projects in the real economy, he said. |
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