Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov praised the country's government for fulfilling the goal of rescuing the Russian economy from the so-called Dutch disease in 2018
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2019) Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov praised the country's government for fulfilling the goal of rescuing the Russian economy from the so-called Dutch disease in 2018.
The Dutch disease is a situation in which increase in a specific economy sector triggers national Currency strengthening but also decline in other sectors.
"Our aim was to get rid of what we used to call the Dutch disease. We've done it using budget tools and rules. When oil prices are high, price premium [the percentage by which a product's selling price differs from a benchmark price] is placed into reserves, and when prices become lower, this money returns to the country's economy," Siluanov said in an interview with the Russian Kommersant newspaper, praising the government for reducing the external factor influence on the lives of Russian citizens.
Siluanov specified that exchange rate changes that used to jeopardize stability and promote uncertainty were now being "leveled down."
"Our citizens used to transpose [their savings] from Dollars to rubles and then from rubles to dollars, which resulted in inevitable financial losses. But this is not the case now," he explained.
The minister voiced belief that the work of the government's economic sector would bring results in 2019, and Russian citizens would therefore feel changes.
"What do people always expect from the government? They expect it to work and protect their interests, they want salaries to grow, prices not to raise, new jobs to be created ... In 2019 everyone should feel changes. This is exactly the goal that the president and the head of the government set. Perhaps, not all the work done by the government can be seen, as today we are developing future prospects and preparing structure changes that the economy needs. Our work will bring results, I'm sure," Siluanov said.
He recalled that the government had already engaged in implementing priority tasks, emphasizing that this had been a "warm-up ahead of full-fledged introduction of a project-based approach" that was currently being implemented via the national projects.
"Apart from weekly government sessions, we also engage in project work regularly. The tasks set by the president raised need for new tools and improved mechanisms. The organization of this work is an interesting and important task. This calls for more personal responsibility for the result, one has to develop a more global approach to goal fulfillment. This is what the change of government work mechanisms is," Siluanov said.
The minister praised the high level of professionalism of the Russian government's economic bloc, and also cooperation between its different units.
In May 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree outlining the country's key goals ans strategic targets for the period until 2024.
