Putin say Russia's growth rate is -2.5% higher than expected, wages must be raised

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on January 17th (local time) that Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to have fallen by 2.5% overall last year.

"The actual growth rate turned out to be better than what most economists predicted," Putin told a meeting of high-ranking economic officials, including finance ministers and central bank governors, Reuters. Correspondence reported.

"According to the Ministry of Economic Development, Russia's GDP fell by 2.1% between January and November last year, and is expected to decline by 2.5% overall last year,” Putin said. We predicted a 10-15% or even 20% decline by then," he stressed. Last year, Russia's gas production fell by 11.8% year-on-year, but international gas prices rose and gas companies made high profits.

In fact, immediately after the war in Ukraine, most experts predicted that Russia's economic growth rate would be around -10% last year due to Western sanctions and other factors, but they have revised their projections upward for autumn and beyond.

In addition, President Putin said, "Inflation is expected to decline gradually from the 5% level in the first quarter of this year to less than 4% in the second quarter" adding, "We need to raise real wages."