President Vladimir Putin stressed on Monday that Russia has defied unprecedented Western pressure with the sanctions imposed as a result of the special military operation in Ukraine, and despite everything, the situation of the Russian economy is stabilizing, he stressed.
At a meeting on economic issues, the President said that the ruble exchange rate was returning to the level of early February, stocks of basic products in retail chains and the level of demand were recovering.
“Russia, as I said, withstood this unprecedented pressure. The situation is stabilizing, the ruble exchange rate has returned to the level of the first half of February and is determined by an objectively strong balance of payments,” he said.
He noted that in the first quarter, the positive balance of payments exceeded $58,000 million, “and this is a historic maximum.”
Foreign currency cash is returning to the country’s banking system, the volume of citizens’ deposits is growing, the President added.
Speaking about the situation in the consumer market, Putin said: “After a brief boom in a number of products, and it happens all the time in such situations, retail demand has returned to normal.”
“Commodity stocks in retail chains are recovering,” he added.
At the same time, he pointed out that the Russian authorities “did the right thing not to resort to manual and artificial regulation of the market, but on the contrary left private companies free to find the most appropriate and effective solutions”.
“These decisions have made it possible to ensure the rhythmic supply of goods to the retail network and the availability of the necessary products in stores,” he said.
The President noted that “in the last month and a half alone, consumer prices in Russia have risen significantly: by 9.4%, and annual inflation on April 8 was 17.5%.”
“I draw the attention of my colleagues from the government, from the central bank, we know everything about it very well, these are very high values. People feel this in their family budget, they feel how prices have gone up and we need to support our citizens…” Putin suggested.
Russian authorities need to support domestic demand, including by increasing the availability of corporate credit, the president said.