The prime minister promises that the realignment of the Russian economy will be completed “by 2024”.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Michoustin on March 23, 2023 at the Duma podium. DMITRY ASTAKHOV / AFP
Russia will have completed the realignment of its economy, which has been affected by several international sanctions, “from 2024”, Prime Minister Mikhail Mikhoustin promised on Thursday.
“Let’s be realistic: external pressure on Russia will not let up. Nevertheless, we expect the adjustment phase to end as early as 2024,” he told the Duma, the lower house of parliament. “The economy has returned to the growth path” and from next year “Russia will embark on the path of long-term progressive development,” he promised.
Russia is under sanctions “of unprecedented scale (…), but we have survived this “difficult period of adjustment,” the prime minister continued, while national GDP shrank by 2.1% in 2022, according to statistics agency Rosstat. For Russia, the International Monetary Fund now expects a slight increase of 0.3% this year. The Central Bank of Russia expects a growth range of “between -1% and +1%”.
Mikhail Michoustin also welcomed the strengthening of cooperation “with friendly countries, with those who share our points of view and our values” two days after a summit between Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, announcing an increase in the minimum by 18.5 % of wages, which is currently set at 16,242 rubles per month (about 200 euros) and will come into effect on January 1, 2024. Social benefits for four million Russians will be increased from April 1, bringing their increase to “more than 13.5% over a year,” he added.