Beginning of Meeting on Economic Issues.Part 1
December 2, 2009
Gorki, Moscow Region
Совещание по экономическим вопросам.
2 декабря 2009 года
Московская область, Горки
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Colleagues,
We are coming to the end of a very difficult year. I hope that next year the situation will be at least a little bit easier, including as a result of our joint efforts.
Lets discuss the current economic situation and the immediate outlook.
Although the statistics can be given various interpretations, of course, they show that the main indicators have stopped their fall, including in the manufacturing and financial sectors. The anti-crisis measures we took have ensured support for particular sectors and, most importantly, have had a beneficial impact on the social and economic situation in the country as a whole. I think our work has been well organised in this respect. Our gross domestic product has registered positive growth since June this year.
We know that other countries are seeing similar trends. The crisis is not Russian but global after all, and so the situation is starting to improve everywhere. But at the same time (as we discussed at the international forums, including the G20 and other meetings) it is still too early to talk about the start of sustainable growth. All the analysts share this view.
I signed a number of important laws this week, including on the federal budget for 2010 and the planned period of 2011 and 2012. This law makes provisions for financing all of the necessary anti-crisis measures. Keeping in mind the complicated and responsible decisions we have taken, and for a number of obvious reasons, this law lays particular stress on pension provisions and other important social mandates.
Our task in the budget policy area is to facilitate post-crisis development, but this is not the only work we have before us. As I said in the Address [to the Federal Assembly], despite the fact that next year will be difficult too, we must start modernising all different sectors of our economy. The budget allocates considerable sums for infrastructure development and road construction more than was allocated this year. The regional budgets will also contribute to spending in these areas of course, and we will make the necessary decisions on revenue source distribution. I recently signed a law in just this area a law amending procedures for paying the tax on property that is part of the Unified Gas Supply System [the amendments work in favour of the regions in which such property is located].
There are several things that I want to discuss separately with you today. At the recent State Council Presidium meeting in Ulyanovsk I spoke about the idea of restoring the Road Fund in order to ensure stable financing for road construction. This idea has drawn some very mixed reactions: from full support to categorical opposition. I want us to come back to this idea and give it a serious examination, including the possibility of tying it to specific financing sources such as petrol excise duties and the transport tax.
Of course, we also need to look at what we can do to make administration and management more transparent in this sector, because the main issues are related precisely to these problems. I hope to hear proposals from the Government on this subject within the next two weeks.
Coming now to the budget indicators based on growth forecasts for key macroeconomic indicators, including GDP, the exchange rate, oil prices, and inflation of course, I would like to hear a brief report on just how realistic the forecast targets are, and also on the risks inevitably present, on the proposals for managing and mitigating these risks.
Ensuring macroeconomic stability remains an undisputed priority for budget and monetary policy. I think we have sufficient reserves for a flexible economic policy, but we need to tread very carefully in using the resources we have built up, given that we already had to draw on these reserves this year and it looks like we will have to do so next year too.
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