Putin Says Russia Spent Over 4.5% Of GDP To Support Citizens Amid Pandemic

Putin Says Russia Spent Over 4.5% of GDP to Support Citizens Amid Pandemic

Russia allocated about 3 trillion rubles (over $41 billion) to support the population during the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the meeting of the heads of the SCO countries on Friday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2021) Russia allocated about 3 trillion rubles (over $41 billion) to support the population during the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the meeting of the heads of the SCO countries on Friday.

"Russia has sent about 3 trillion rubles (and this is, so that it is clear in comparative terms, more than 4.5% of our country's GDP) to preserve jobs and citizens' incomes, support entrepreneurship, restart the investment cycle, help regions, specific people and families, first of all, those with children," Putin said, speaking via video link.

The president also added that the key tool to further stimulate economic growth was "digitalization and the increased use of environmentally sound technologies and other innovative solutions in all spheres of life, including public administration, transport, communications."

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. To date, more than 227,089 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 4,67 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The number of registered cases of coronavirus infection in Russia for the entire period is estimated to be about 7,234,425 with 196,626 deaths.

The pandemic resulted in the global economic crisis, which caused a worrying rise in unemployment and poverty in all countries of the world, including Russia.