Russian Ministry of Finance: The economy of the country is 'in the eye of the storm'
Russia’s First Deputy Finance Minister Tatyana Nesterenko stated if reforms are not implemented, the State will have no funds to pay wages by the end of 2017. According to her, stability is only provided due to reserve funds.
The lack of reforms in the Russian economy may lead to spending reserves and economic problems by the end of 2017, Nesterenko stated.
"If changes are not made, we will have no reserves, no ability to pay wages, we will have serious economic problems by the end of the year. The public sector is our main internal challenge," Nesterenko said.
"The current state of the economy can be described as the eye of a storm," RIA Novosti cites Nesterenko as saying.
"It is obvious that we have been caught in a storm and it will twist," she added. The Deputy Finance Minister noted that the current stability of the situation is only being provided due to reserves.
The World Bank predicts a GDP decline of 1.2% in Russia for 2016 due to the "fall in private investment volume and consumption." According to experts, the rate of economic decline slowed slightly in 2016 in Russia, which may indicate that a number of sectors have passed the "bottom." "A return to moderate growth is expected for 2017," the Bank’s specialists predict, saying that it will be 1.4% for GDP and the next year, 1.8%.