For this reason, they are the ones who must take responsibility for the plans they made. By the way, when some call for more changes within the Cabinet, we have to understand that it was the Government’s financial and economic block that developed the national development programme to 2024. Both the Government and the Presidential Executive Office contributed to this effort.

It took us the entire year 2017 to articulate the objectives and find the resources. How can these efforts be organised? By simply distributing money, and that’s it?įirst, we had to find this money. How can this be done? We need to focus the available resources, find and channel them to the essential development initiatives. This is a matter of principle, and we have to be clear on this. We need to transition to a new technological paradigm. I have said it on numerous occasions, and I will repeat it today. Vladimir Putin: I will have to begin by saying a few words on whether these projects are needed, since you said that some question this. How well thought out are the performance assessment criteria for the national projects? For example, the Accounts Chamber Chairman said that there is no way to assess their effectiveness. However, some experts, members of the State Council, as was mentioned in Yalta only recently, have questioned the feasibility of these national projects and whether they are needed.

They are expected to cost an enormous amount of money. The year 2018 arguably went by under the sign of new national projects that you launched with the May Executive Order. Its members worked with us throughout the year, following the President both in Russia and abroad. Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov: Let us begin by giving some priority to the Kremlin pool. Let’s not waste our time and proceed to your questions and my attempts to answer them. These are the general results that I wanted to mention in the beginning. Life expectancy has also increased slightly compared to 2017, from 72.7 to 72.9 years. By the end of this year, it will be 14,163 rubles. The average annual insurance component of the retirement pension stood at 13,677 rubles in 2017. The National Welfare Fund has grown by around 22 percent. We are about to reach the federal budget surplus of 2.1 percent of the GDP. In the early 2018, they amounted to $432 billion while now they stand at almost $464 billion.įor the first time since 2011, we will have a budget surplus. Our gold and foreign currency reserves have grown by over 7 percent. As of the end of the year, we expect it to reach $190 billion. Over the three quarters of this year we already achieved $157 million. In 2017, if you remember, it was around $115 billion. If last year it hit a historical low of 5.2 percent, this year it will be even lower – 4.8 percent. The unemployment rate is going down, which is good news. Therefore, we will be able to reach the Central Bank’s reference rate of 4 percent and will have an inflation rate of 4.1 percent to 4.2 percent – somewhere just over 4 percent. Inflation remains at an acceptable level, although it has increased a little in the past week, by 0.5 percent, I think.

I hope that this momentum will be maintained, since real pay levels are on the rise, having grown by 7.4 percent in the first nine months, which is expected to give us 6.9 or 7 percent by the end of the year. According to the latest statistics, real incomes will increase by 0.5 percent. After a lengthy interval, the population’s real income has shown some, albeit very moderate, growth. Consumer demand growth has been apparent. Cargo shipments and retail trade are on the rise, having increased by 2.6 percent.

In the first three quarters fixed capital investment increased by 4.1 percent. In addition, processing industries have been growing at a somewhat faster pace of 3.2 percent. Industrial output was growing at a faster pace, totalling 2.9 percent in the first ten months of 2018, with the annual results expected at 3 percent, up from a 2.1 percent growth in 2017. In the first nine months of 2018, GDP increased by 1.7 percent, while the Economic Development Ministry expects the annual increase to total 1.8 percent. A lot has been said already, but I have the latest data reflecting the most recent results, some just a couple of days old. Let us begin our traditional end-of-year meeting that we call a news conference.Īs always, I will spend just a few brief seconds to sum up the results of the outgoing year. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues, friends.

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