MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has highly valued the effective work of the Russian government amid tightened sanctions against the country.

At a plenary session on Tuesday, the chamber discussed the draft law on introducing changes to this year’s federal budget, which First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov had presented to the parliamentary members. During the discussion a number of opposition members criticized the cabinet of minister’s economic policy.

"We should note that the government ensured an economic growth and a surplus budget amid tightened sanctions," Volodin stressed, calling it "very important." "Why don’t we pay attention to it?" he asked.

"Look, the sanctions policy against our state is getting stronger, and an [economic] growth of about 2% is provided, with budget surplus of almost 2 trillion rubles [$29.6 bln]. We passed to the distribution of the received additional sum and are discussing this issue. What about the basic issue? Think about it," the speaker said, addressing Siluanov’s opponents.