Putin Says Russia's Economy Continues to Grow SteadilyRussian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia's economy has kept stable growth in the first four months of this year and the trend will go on."An active and upward trend in Russia's economy continues this year: GDP has grown, and industrial production, the Central Bank's reserves and retail trade have been growing," Putin told a cabinet session on economic issues in the Kremlin. Meanwhile, he demanded that efficient measures should be taken to lower inflation, which was much higher in the first quarter than the planned. He expressed the confidence that the government will be "quite capable of keeping inflation within the target budget parameters." Budget revenues have grown considerably in the past four months as compared to the same period last year, the president said, noting that returns from the State Customs Committee and the Ministry on Taxes and Levies, real personal incomes have also grown. All this shows that relieving the tax burden, introducing a unified social tax, and other measures taken last year were right, Putin said. He ordered the government and the Central Bank to simplify the rules for capital export, in particular to other former Soviet republics. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov introduced the country' s economic situation in January-April and the projects on reforming pension system and electricity system. At the session attended by top officials of Russia's key economic sectors were also discussed measures to stimulate the growth of the national economy. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |