MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. Life for Russian citizens has become more challenging, as several years ago Russia faced shocks, which undermined the situation in the domestic market and adversely affected the social sphere, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his annual televised Q&A session.

"It is true, this is why I identified this topic as one of the most important. I would like to remind you that several years ago we encountered a number of shocks at once - it was not even external shocks associated with the so-called sanctions or external restrictions, but our traditional export goods - oil, oil products, gas, hydrocarbons, metals, chemical fertilizers, chemistry in general, some other goods. Therefore, we were confronted with such unpleasant element in the economy and in the social sphere," he said.

Meanwhile, he noted that the Russian economy is now significantly different from the situation of the 1990s: there is no high inflation, skyrocketing debts, dependence on the IMF and wage arrears.

"The economic system of the 90s is no longer there. First, we do not have such inflation, which was more than 30% We do not have such skyrocketing debts. We have no dependence on the IMF. On the contrary, our gold and foreign exchange reserves are growing, they have now exceeded the $500 bln and continue to grow, "Putin said.

The Russian president also noted that salary arrears are sporadic. "The situation of the 1990s, when they did not pay salaries for half a year, did not pay monetary allowance to servicemen for months, when a pension was often the only source of income - there’s nothing like that right now," the President stressed.

By the end of 2018, the Russian economy grew by 2.3%. According to the official forecast of the Economic Development Ministry, this year the country's GDP in the current year will increase by 1.3%.