On June 20, Minister of Economic Development Andrei Belousov spoke in a panel discussion titled, Are Central Banks the Last Stronghold of Economic Growth? during the 17th St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The main cause of the slowdown in economic growth is the abrupt decrease in investment activity, he said. This is due to three negative factors: a stronger rouble, growing real interest rates and the growing tariffs of natural monopolies.
Mr Belousov outlined two ways to solve the problem: lowering the natural monopolies tariff rates and a tax manoeuvre – a gradual transfer of the tax burden from production to consumption.
Meanwhile, he stressed that last year there was no fatal deterioration of the investment climate leading to such decline. The direct foreign investment inflow in the economy accounts for $16-17 billion per quarter.
Answering journalists’ questions on the socioeconomic development indicators in the second quarter of 2013, Mr Belousov said that the GDP growth has accelerated between January and May and the average growth rate has increased 1.8% against the same period last year. This result finalises the discussion of whether or not there is a recession. The rates are very low, but there can be no recession with these rates, he said.
On June 20, Mr Belousov took part in the briefing, The Integration of Russia in the Global Economic Institutions: Accession to the OECD. In his address, Mr Belousov said that he hopes the negotiating process on Russia’s accession to the OECD will not take 18 years as was the case with the WTO. Currently Russia is passing an exam of sorts, he said, and Russia passed this exam in six of the 22 OECD committees. Mr Belousov thanked OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria for creating favourable conditions for the talks. Mr Gurria stressed that the OECD is prepared to work with Russia.
Source: Ministry of Economic Development
