ZCZC
BCN-13
RUSSIA-GROWTH-IMF
Absent reforms, Russian growth eyed at 1.8%: IMF
MOSCOW, Aug 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Russian economic growth will hover around
1.8 percent for the next several years unless Moscow enacts structural
reforms, the International Monetary Fund said Friday.
While spending on public infrastructure, and a deeply unpopular pension
reform could boost business activity, “absent deeper structural reforms,
long-run growth is projected to settle around 1.8 percent,” an IMF statement
said.
President Vladimir Putin last year launched 12 “national projects” to
modernise the economy and improve Russians’ quality of life. But economic
activity has nonetheless stalled this year.
The IMF predicts growth of 1.2 percent in 2019. The World Bank last month
gave the same figure, revised lower from a previous 1.8 percent.
The national projects include programmes in healthcare, housing, the
digital economy, environment, and others that should be carried out over five
years starting from 2019, to the cost of $400 billion.
More than a quarter of that is to be funded by investors.
The IMF said these projects “have potential to stimulate activity” but
only if implemented effectively and combined with other reforms.
“Ambitious structural reforms will be important to raise growth,” the IMF
said, stressing the need for Moscow to create a “vibrant private sector.”
BSS/AFP/HR/1020