The achieved national goals allow Russia to set ambitious tasks for the future
The economy of the Russian Federation demonstrates stable growth against the backdrop of sanctions pressure. The goals already achieved set new challenges for the country, which will require improvement of the established economic system. This was the opinion of representatives of federal authorities and experts at the session ‘The Russian Economy: How to Ensure the Achievement of National Goals’ held as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
KEY CONCLUSIONS
Russia has succeeded in creating a foundation for achieving new goals
"The basis of the tasks that are set for the future are new national goals. We remember what ambitious goals were set in 2018. Now the tasks are even more ambitious. I think that in the previous six years we have laid the foundation for setting these new objectives," Andrey Makarov, Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Budget and Taxes.
"The economy has shown its resilience, and an important factor in this resilience has been the mutual trust between the government and business. In recent years, we have implemented some very large-scale programmes that were previously considered unthinkable. These are programmes of mass support for business during COVID, including loans with write-offs and so on. It proved to be highly effective. Business has responded to it, retained jobs, and continued to invest," Maksim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation
"As of late, we have had the experience of living under fairly low inflation. By 2017, we achieved a 4% inflation, which many people did not believe was possible. We kept it at this level for about five years and saw what it leads to. We got long-term financing, mortgages started to grow at a market rate of 8–9% without expensive budget programmes. Macroeconomic stability is the basis that must be preserved, " Elvira Nabiullina, Governor, The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia).
Self-reliance and self-sufficiency of the Russian economy has brought results
"More self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Imports in the GDP structure have fallen to record lows. We have achieved very good results in agriculture and in a number of other areas," Maksim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.
"We have learnt to improve budget management. <...> The system of target-setting, various indicators, accountability for the use of every ruble. This has been built up in recent years – and it is working," Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation.
"Very serious structural changes [have taken place] in terms of reducing poverty, reducing inequality. Big programmes have been launched to support families with children, something that did not exist in our country, something that helps to smooth out social differentiation," Maksim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.
PROBLEMS
The quality of life of Russians should improve despite the emergence of new challenges
"Eliminating inequality, fighting poverty, various goals in the areas of health care and education: there is a very large number of tasks that need to be fulfilled. Therefore, both the central Government and the governors will definitely not have any time to relax. All together we will try to advance towards our goals," Maksim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.
"Development in the context of labour shortage is a key challenge, in my opinion. We are constantly working to improve labour productivity, to increase the flexibility of the labour market. We have been growing for two years with very low unemployment. Here we are also maximizing the benefits of the platform economy, which itself is a driver of labour productivity growth," Maksim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
Capital market development is among the key economic tasks for the immediate future
"Number one task is capital market development. I am convinced that without it, we have only one alternative: increasing the role of the state, state subsidies, and so on. Here we need effective measures, including for the growth of IPOs. There is investor demand. But we need to stimulate issuers to enter the capital market," Elvira Nabiullina, Governor, The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia).
"Financial sovereignty of the country is a global task. Sustainable finances, creation of our own capital market, establishment of stable settlements, including international settlements, these are the challenges we are facing, and we will work on them in the next six years," Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation.
SOLUTIONS
Supporting investment growth will help to develop areas with insufficient capital
"We need investments in those areas where capital is currently insufficient. Therefore, it is obviously impossible to stimulate investors only with debt instruments. Among other things, the Central Bank has good proposals apart from encouraging IPOs and SPOs to partially replace budget sustenance of debt with capital support," Maksim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
"We have good dynamics, including in terms of investment. But if we return to the issue of taxes, I would like to point out that simply raising taxes will be counterproductive. It is important to understand who we are taking money from, and what these funds will be used for. Thus, this is not just a question of increasing the tax burden, but of structural changes in the economy. In terms of business taxation, we must incentivize those who invest more," Maksim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.
Strengthening sovereignty should go hand in hand with integration into the global economy
"Given what is happening in the world, I would focus on the goal of ensuring sovereignty at three levels: state, cultural, and economic. In terms of the state, of course, the key task for the next six years is the modernization of the Armed Forces, taking into account the experience of the special military operation, taking into account new technological solutions, taking into account changes in the management system," Maksim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.
"Despite the sanctions, we must be integrated into the global economy with those [partner countries. – Ed.] who are ready for it. And what does this mean? This requires a working independent system of settlements and payments. It requires interconnecting our depository systems, mutual recognition of ratings, auditor's reports, insurance policies, and other things related to ensuring the openness of the economy. And this should be done both bilaterally and multilaterally," Elvira Nabiullina, Governor, The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia).
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