Justice minister, DGA chief discuss partnership to boost digital judicial services    Netanyahu does not rule out further strikes on Hamas leaders    US farmers are being squeezed – and it's testing their deep loyalty to Trump    Romania condemns 'irresponsible' Moscow after Russian drone breaches its airspace    Kirk's assassination is forcing US politicians to make difficult choices about their safety    India players refused handshakes, says Pakistan coach    Final stage of Spanish Vuelta cycling race abandoned after disruption by pro-Palestine protesters    Mané fires Al Nassr past Al Kholood to keep perfect start as Ronaldo honored    Lacazette brace earns NEOM SC first Saudi Pro League win    Adolescence star Owen Cooper makes Emmys history at 15    Saudi liquidity grows 8.4%, reaching SR3.1 trillion in July 2025    Over 434,000 people acquire first aid skills during nationwide health campaign    Saudi Arabia's legislative advancement highlighted at International Conference on Judicial Training    Sudden swerving among 3 major causes of accidents in Riyadh in 2024    Princess Haifa emphasizes pivotal Saudi role in shaping future of tourism    Sahm Capital names Saudi Olympian Fayik Abdi as brand ambassador    SR9000 fine for copyright infringement using AI    King Charles and Prince Harry finally reunite after 19 months apart    Anastacia: Arnold Schwarzenegger made me sing Whatta Man 12 times    Thousands pay their last respects to Giorgio Armani, private funeral on Monday    The key to happiness    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Putin leaves Russians guessing on economic reform plan
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 04 - 06 - 2017

Russia's leading economic thinkers say the country needs bold action to avoid stagnation. After President Vladimir Putin set out his ideas for the economy in a keynote speech on Friday, they are still waiting to hear what that action will be.
Addressing the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual gathering where investors look to the Kremlin to set the direction of travel for the economy, Putin said Russia's future lay in developing the digital economy.
But he had few detailed and finalized plans on how to achieve that ambition, and many of the other themes in his speech - on improving the investment climate, on protection of ownership rights - had recurred in previous speeches at the forum over several years.
Putin, now in his 17th year as Russia's paramount leader, did not set out what economic strategy he would pursue if, as most people anticipate, he is re-elected in 2018 for another six-year term.
«The president creatively skirted around this subject,» said Alexander Shokhin, a former deputy prime minister and now the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, an employers' lobby group.
Shokhin said Putin still had time to formulate his strategy before the election. In any case, the speech on Friday contained useful signals for Russian businesses, Shokhin said, though they «might not be totally understandable for foreign participants».
Russia has managed to ride out a period since 2014 when a slump in world oil prices and Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's intervention in Ukraine combined to tip the economy into a sharp slowdown and send the currency plummeting.
The ruble is now stable, inflation is falling and economic growth this year is forecast by the World Bank at 1.3 percent. Foreign direct investment was $7 billion in the first quarter, its highest level in three years, Putin told the forum.
But policy-makers want to achieve gross domestic product of 3-4 percent, and to achieve that, many economists say, Russia must make structural changes to its economy, in particular by reducing the role of the state.
«Putin said some standard basic things, voicing main themes but offering no insightful ideas,» Dmitry Polevoy, chief economist at ING Bank in Moscow, said of Friday's speech.
The return to growth and pick-up in investment are presented by Russian officials as a big achievement. «From the maths point of view it is not bad but conceptually it is far from an ideal situation that you can brag about," said Polevoy.
Several of Russia's most powerful business leaders did, however, praise Putin's speech. «He is a great leader,» said Vagit Alekperov, chief executive of Lukoil, Russia's second-biggest oil company.
In what has become an annual ritual, liberal businesspeople and economists used the St Petersburg event, Russia's main showcase for foreign investors, as an opportunity to press the case for urgent reforms.
«Between 2008 and 2017, 10 years, the average economic growth rate was 1 percent. That's a lost decade. The reasons are the failure to conduct reforms and the state takeover of the economy,» said Alexei Kudrin, a former finance minister.
The liberal camp's main prescriptions for the economy involve a privatization program to shrink the state's role, decisive steps to rein in law enforcement agencies that they say harass businesses, and guarantees that bureaucrats will not steal businesses from their owners.
This camp has some influence. It includes such people as German Gref, chief executive of Russia's biggest lender Sberbank. Central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina is sympathetic. Kudrin has been commissioned to submit proposals for economic reforms to the Kremlin.
This group is countered though by a powerful group with ties to the Kremlin and state-owned business who believe bold reforms could hurt stability, and that the state needs a strong role in the economy to protect national security.
The rivalry between those groups has intensified because the policy direction for the next presidential term is being defined in the next few months, and both sides want to put their stamp on it.
«We can live without reforms, and in previous years that's essentially what happened,» said Andrei Sharonov, dean of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo. «The question is, how long can we live without reforms, and how high will be the price that we'll have to pay for that?» — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.