Putin: Russian economy has fully recovered

Mr Putin declared that the Russian economy had recovered after a period of unprecedented pressure from the West.

"In general, it can be said that the stage of recovery of the Russian economy is complete. We have withstood the unprecedented level of external pressure, with the relentless sanctions from the Western leadership and a number of unfriendly countries," Russian President Vladimir Putin said today at a meeting on the draft federal budget for 2024-2025.

The Kremlin chief affirmed that Russia's GDP has reached the same level as in 2021, stressing that the important thing now is to "establish conditions for stable and long-term development".

The Russian president said that many key economic indicators were better than expected. Russia's GDP was forecast to shrink this year, but this has been revised up to 1.2% growth and could reach 2.5-2.8% by the end of the year. Consumer demand and manufacturing are also showing good growth.

President Putin at the federal budget meeting in Moscow on September 18. Photo: Reuters — President Putin at the federal budget meeting in Moscow on September 18. Photo: *Reuters*

Mr Putin acknowledged that there would still be a small deficit in the overall budget for 2023, but stressed that the Russian government had recorded a budget surplus in August.

"Non-oil and gas revenues are significantly higher than the 2022 figures. Meanwhile, oil and gas revenues in July-August have recovered to the same level as last year. Taking into account the situation on the world market, the active growth momentum is maintained," the Russian President said.

President Putin ordered officials to calculate the federal budget based on national priorities and interests, as well as ensure that all obligations to society are met, saying that the biggest problem with the Russian economy today is the rising rate of inflation.

Weeks after Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine in late February 2022, a White House official warned that an unprecedented wave of sanctions launched by the US and its allies could cripple half of the Russian economy.

When the new sanctions were announced, the administration of US President Joe Biden described them as having unprecedented consequences for Moscow.

The initial shock and fear that rocked Russian financial markets in March 2022. Still, the Russian economy is well-positioned to finance a protracted war in Ukraine, a scenario the United States had hoped to avoid.

Some experts still believe that the impact of sanctions will hinder Russia's economic growth in the long term. They say that sanctions cannot have an immediate effect, but will cause the Russian economy to stagnate in the coming years, and some signs of decline have already appeared.

However, the West's inability to quickly knock down the Russian economy has contributed to pushing Ukraine's large-scale counteroffensive campaign into a stalemate, despite Kiev receiving huge amounts of military and economic aid from Washington and its allies.

Vu Anh (According to Interfax, Reuters )

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