ST. PETERSBURG, June 4. /TASS/. The labor market situation and inflation are currently the most pressing problems in the Russian economy, President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday.
"We have two most pressing problems at the moment, which ones? The labor market, it needs to be restored to at least 4.7%, as it was before the pandemic, and now it is 5.2%. And the second is inflation," the President said.
During the SPIEF, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said that the government forecasts inflation in Russia from 4.5 to 5% by the end of 2021, which is higher than the April estimate (4-4.5%). According to the Central Bank's forecast, inflation in the Russian Federation in 2021 will be 4.7-5.2% and will return to the target of 4% in mid-2022.
Earlier in an interview with TASS, the head of the Ministry of Labor Anton Kotyakov noted that the labor market in Russia will be fully restored to pre-crisis levels by the end of this year. According to him, the total unemployment in the country is now holding at 5.2%, by the end of 2021 it will drop to 4.6-4.7% (the pre-crisis indicator of 2019).
The 24th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is being held on June 2-5. The forum’s business program will focus on the global and Russian economies, social issues, and technological development. TASS is the information partner and the official photo hosting agency of the forum.