Putin: Russian economy will recover
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the national economy will rebound and the rouble will stabilise.
He said the current crisis could last two years at most, but the economy could recover faster if external factors change for the better.
Delivering his annual televised press conference, Mr Putin said the government and the Central Bank are generally working correctly to deal with the current economic woes, although some of their action was belated.
“The current situation has been provoked by external factors, but it’s worth noting that we haven’t done what we planned to do to diversify our economy,” Mr Putin said, adding that the crisis should create incentives to diversify the economy and ease the dependence on oil and gas earnings.
Mr Putin said the nation’s currency reserves are sufficient to keep the economy in stable condition, adding that the Central Bank should not aimlessly “burn” its reserves, currently standing at 419 billion US dollars (£269 billion).
The government also needs to work with exporters to encourage them not to stash their hard currency earnings, to help the rouble stabilise, he said.
“Our economy will overcome the current situation. How much time will be needed for that? Under the most unfavourable circumstances I think it will take about two years,” he said.
