On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin held a regular meeting with government members, focused, among other matters, on economic growth, presidential web page reported.
Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin noted that according to the latest statistics, “There was some revival in growth rates to about 1.6–1.7% at the beginning of the third quarter, but there are risks of an economic slowdown in the next 12 months instead of acceleration.”
As he pointed out, “This year global economic growth dropped to its lowest level last seen during the crisis year of 2009. This indicator is expected to come in at slightly above 2.5%. However, one of the key problems we are currently facing is the short-term decline in lending within our banking system. A slowdown of the consumer lending segment is without a doubt a trend headed in the right direction, since it curbs the increase in household debt and could help prevent a major collapse in the future, but at the same time we are witnessing a major slowdown in other segments of the lending market. For example, mortgage portfolio growth decelerated over the past 12 months: in February this portfolio was equal to RUR 1.3 tln ($20 bln), but as of the end of August it stood at RUR 1.1 tln. All this is taking place against the backdrop of a slowdown in other types of lending.”
“Inflation will be below 4% in early October already, which is a target indicator. The inflation rate is expected to decelerate to about 3.6% in 2019, and below 3% in the first quarter of next year,” Oreshkin said. “We consider it essential to increase regional investment, especially in the first half of next year, so as not to slow economic growth rates, and to lay a long-term foundation for increasing them.” The increase should be 5% next year and 7% in 2021.