Russian leadership lauds country’s economic performance in 2008, despite global crisis
Speaking at the last session of the Cabinet in 2008, top Russian political leadership — President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — lauded the results of the nation’s economic performance in the outgoing year, labeling them positive outcomes, especially in the face of the current global financial malaise that worsened further in the fourth quarter of the year.
“Despite the negative dynamics of the 4th quarter, the Russian economy in general and its social sphere in particular will conclude 2008 on a positive note,” Putin told his ministers and top leaders of the nation’s largest political parties with representatives in the parliament, who were also invited to the end-of-the-year economic performance assessment forum in the Russian White House. “The growth of GDP will be at about 6%, while other key socio-economic indices will also end on the positive,” he added. As evident examples of the positive performance, the prime minister cited the agro sector, where yearend growth will be 10%, investments into the economy, which are similarly expected to rise by 10% and wages/salaries which are expected to gain 10-12%, all compared to the similar economic-performance data for 2007.
From his side, the president, commenting on the Cabinet’s anti-crisis management policy strategy, also praised the government, specifically noting that Putin’s Cabinet had been able to solve most of the problems caused by the global financial meltdown and its negative consequences. “The measures adopted by the government were specifically directed at riding out the most acute phase of the current crisis in a state of preparedness,” he added. “In this regard, the government has been able to achieve a lot: it adopted a series of vital strategic policy decisions that helped forestall the spread of the financial problems and normalized the situation in the banking sector.”
Speaking specifically on the global financial crisis and the colossal costs of ameliorating its drastic negative effects on the Russian economy and local businesses, Medvedev noted that Russia has paid expensively for a myriad of irresponsible key policy decisions taken by other countries that ignited the current financial tsunamis that have wreaked unprecedented damages across the world. However, the president has expressed confidence in his government, which is taking the appropriate measures needed to tackle the crisis and prevent its most negative development scenario being forecast by both local and international experts. “The current anti-crisis policy being realized by the Russian government is balanced, but not ideal, as there are no ideal programs. This is why this policy, like all such programs, could be reviewed and corrected, as the case may be, in the future.”
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