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Russia’s growth rates to be 4% in next few years – Russian deputy PM

According to Kudrin, “we all are in for a lost decade” over the current situation in the global economy

WASHINGTON, September 25 (Itar-Tass) — Economic growth rates in Russia will amount to four percent in the next few years, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin said on Sunday.

Kurdin in currently in Washington to attend a traditional session of governing bodies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to Kudrin, “we all are in for a lost decade” over the current situation in the global economy. Primarily, in his words, it is applicable to “western countries, which will take hard years to re-orient to new factors, to give up their pre-crisis consumption models with low investment levels.”

“They have big debts, they will shrink consumption and debts, which will bring down their economic growth factors,” he said.

As concerns Russia, he noted, the situation is somewhat different. “We also need to attune our growth factors, but our economy has more reserves from the point of view of structural reforms and possibilities to attract investments,” he said. “That is why it will take us less time to travel this way, three or four years. And in this period, our growth rates will be roughly equal to the average across the globe, i.e. about four percent.”

“It will not be a lost decade for us. I think it will be rather a decade of gain,” Kudrin stressed.

Touching on factor that might have a negative effect on the Russian economy, Kudrin said, “lowering of world oil process to about 60 U.S. dollars per barrel in the current situation may be fraught with a zero growth or even with slight slump.” However he said he was sure that oil prices will not go down lower than 90-100 U.S. dollars per barrel in the next few years. Although, he admitted a “possibility of a short-term price slump in conditions of the current market turmoil.” But “we don’t expect a recession in the Russian economy,” he stressed.