NOVO-OGAREVO, October 18. /TASS/. The US economy has many problems, despite decent GDP growth in 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with heads of the BRICS media.

"In the US, this year, there will be decent growth by all accounts - over 3%. They had a big leap after the pandemic, the US economy grew by 5.7%, then added to 2.5%. This year it will be a little more - over three [percent]. But there are still lots of problems there. The foreign trade deficit, in my opinion, is over $700-718 billion. The budget deficit is $1.8 billion. And the government debt is $34.8 trillion," the Russian president said.

He noted that even large leading countries "have a lot of problems."

"Good relations with the BRICS countries - and we are open to these good relations - will have a beneficial effect on the entire global economy," Putin said.