MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin sees the alleviation of poverty in Russia as his main priority, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper published on Wednesday.

"Yes, our economic growth is still insufficient, too many people still live below the poverty line, and this is absolutely inadmissible. Solving this problem is the president’s main priority for the time being," he said.

At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman said that a certain degree of financial and macroeconomic stability in Russia cannot be questioned.

"We would like to hope that it will become the surface for us to gain foothold and make a huge leap forward. There should be a breakthrough in the people’s minds, in technologies, in working efficiency," he said. "In fact, the national projects provide all the necessary basis, we just need to methodically put them into practice."

When asked about what he expected from the Russian economy in 2019, Peskov replied: "Preserving macroeconomic stability."