Putin: Russia's old economic resources are no longer enough
According Vladimir Putin, economic growth in Russia will not resume by itself, and the country needs to look for new sources of economic stability. The Russian President said this at a meeting of the Presidium of the Economic Council, which was held for the first time in two years, Rosbalt reported.
"I consider it necessary to emphasize once again: economic growth will not resume by itself. If we do not find new sources of growth, the dynamics of the GDP will be somewhere around zero," Putin stated.
He admitted that in the current situation, the resources that had previously grown the Russian economy were no longer working.
According to the President, it is necessary to simultaneously ensure "an increase in the rate of growth of the domestic economy and to adopt structural reforms for enhancing its efficiency."
"It is very important at the same time to maintain macroeconomic stability, prevent the build-up of the budget deficit and the acceleration of inflation," he added.
Putin also urged the participants of the meeting of the Presidium of the Economic Council to not become obsessed with theoretical economic concepts or ideological preferences, but to focus on the pragmatic side of the issue and on the real ways of implementing ideas.
"There should be no monopoly on truth in this economic discussion. Here I ask everyone in our meetings to escape their ideological preferences as much as possible, not get limited by the framework of any theoretical concepts, but be guided by pragmatic approaches, focusing on the development of realistic and objective decisions," Putin said.