MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. The labor shortage is the main obstacle to the development of the Russian economy, head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, said in the State Duma.

"We are closely monitoring the financial condition of companies and see that most of them are quite stable. <...> There we now have no other way except to increase labor productivity in order to overcome the labor shortage. The labor shortage - not the cost of loans or even the lack of capacity - is now the main barrier to economic growth. And the enterprises themselves are talking about this," Nabiullina said.

As for with production capacity, "not everything is so smooth there," she noted.

"In some industries, there is almost no free equipment left, even outdated equipment, for example, in mechanical engineering. Because the demand there is very high, and this boosts investments in the mechanical engineering, they have grown significantly. However, in any case, the renewal and expansion of production assets takes time," the head of the Central Bank added., Nabiullina also stressed that the physical capabilities for a rapid increase in production in Russia are currently limited.

"The labor shortage has been growing everywhere. Unemployment fell to 2.5% by mid-year. According to yesterday's data, it is already 2.4%. <…> This means that the physical capabilities for a rapid increase in production are now extremely limited," she said.