"Entering the trajectory of sustainable growth": the government approves the economic recovery plan

The Russian government has approved a nationwide economic recovery plan.

This was announced on Friday, September 25, at the press service of the Cabinet.

“The main goals of the draft national plan are to enter the trajectory of sustainable economic growth, to ensure the restoration of employment and incomes of the population,” the government’s website said in a statement.

In addition, the project implies long-term structural changes in the economy.

The transformation is planned to be achieved through the use of new technologies, labor market and education opportunities, fast and high-quality housing construction, as well as export orientation and active import substitution.

Against this background, at the beginning of the summer, the President of the country Vladimir Putin instructed the government to determine the parameters of the economic recovery plan and to start taking concrete steps.

At the same time, the head of state urged to focus primarily on the well-being of citizens and Russian families.

"The strategic task of such a national action plan is not only to stabilize the situation, without which, of course, it is impossible to move forward, but, most importantly, to support citizens, enterprises, businesses at the stage of exiting (from the quarantine restrictions regime. -

)," Vladimir said Putin.

As the Prime Minister of the country Mikhail Mishustin noted earlier, the approved plan contains about 500 measures, and the cost of its implementation in two years will be about 5 trillion rubles.

According to First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, the economic recovery process will take place in two stages.

The first stage will run from the IV quarter of 2020 until the end of 2021.

“Here it is necessary to solve three main tasks: to move to a steady growth in real incomes of the population and the economy as a whole, to restore the most affected sectors, including small and medium-sized businesses, and to normalize the unemployment level - to reach a level below 5% of the number of employees,” Belousov said during a speech at the Federation Council on September 23.

The second stage covers the period 2022-2024.

During this period of time, the key task of the authorities will be the implementation of the five national development goals and the achievement of the corresponding 25 targets.

“The main characteristics of this stage are GDP growth above 3% per year, real disposable income of the population - about 2.5%, investments in fixed assets - more than 5% annually, non-oil and gas exports - by 3-4%,” Belousov explained.

• First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Belousov

• RIA News

• © Press Service of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation

As previously stated in the Ministry of Economic Development, the national plan for economic recovery will be a continuation of the already implemented anti-crisis measures of the government.

We will remind, earlier, to help Russians and business in a pandemic, the authorities approved several programs of financial support.

In particular, we are talking about the provision of credit vacations, direct payments to families with children, as well as soft loans and tax breaks for companies and entrepreneurs.

“The expected economic recovery will be quite real if these measures to support the population are preserved.

The key role is played by targeted payments to those in need, an increase in the minimum wage and an indexation of pension income.

At the same time, the main support measures relate primarily to business and are aimed at preserving jobs.

The focus is on small and medium-sized businesses, where there is a high level of employment, "said Alexander Abramov, head of the laboratory at the Institute of Applied Economic Research, RANEPA, to RT.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, since the beginning of 2020, the authorities have allocated more than 1 trillion rubles from the budget to finance preferential credit programs for businesses.

It should be noted that the loans received from the state at a low interest rate must be used by enterprises to pay salaries to staff at the rate of one minimum wage (12,130 rubles) per employee.

At the same time, the loan itself can be partially or completely written off if employers keep their jobs.

“Soft loans to businesses on condition of keeping the state helped save part of the population from dismissal.

Such initiatives make it possible to stabilize the situation on the labor market, ”said Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, NRU HSE, in a conversation with RT.

According to the expert's forecast, already in 2021, the country's GDP will show compensating growth within 3%, and by the third quarter of 2022, the economy will be able to return to pre-crisis indicators.

After the recovery phase, further economic growth will be possible due to investments in innovation and reduction of dependence on the raw materials sector, Ostapkovich said.