The government needs to do everything to increase the real incomes of Russians and bring inflation back to target levels.

This was announced on Friday, December 24, by the President of the country Vladimir Putin during a meeting with members of the Cabinet.

“The issue of increasing the real incomes of citizens is key.

Here we must use all measures of economic policy, including continuing the course of suppressing inflation ... We need to protect people from sharp price fluctuations, which most painfully hit those with low incomes, ”the head of state emphasized.

According to Rosstat and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, over the past year, consumer prices for goods and services in the country have grown by an average of 8.22%.

The most noticeable increase was the cost of food (by 10.48%) and, in particular, fruit and vegetable products (by 13.64%).

The observed dynamics is partly due to external factors, said Valery Mironov, Deputy Director of the Institute for Development Center at the Higher School of Economics.

As a result of the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, global trade in 2021 faced logistical problems and disruptions in the supply of goods.

At the same time, global consumption was growing steadily, which led to a shortage of a number of goods and higher prices in most countries of the world.

“The problems also affected final consumption goods, intermediate products, and raw materials.

All this affects the producers and ultimately the consumers themselves.

The price increases also affected Russia, as our economy is interconnected with the world market, ”Mironov explained.

However, experts explain the rise in prices for goods in Russia by internal reasons.

For example, a shift in the timing of the harvest had a temporary effect on the cost of food.

This was announced on December 17 by the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina.

“Even if we take out of the brackets the prices for goods and services that have risen in price this year, there will remain a stable part of inflation, which is much higher than our goal.

And this is due to the fact that the growth in demand continues to outstrip the possibilities of expanding supply, "- said the Chairman of the Central Bank.

However, according to experts from the Bank of Russia, already in 2022, the growth rate of consumer prices in the country will slow down and may return to the target level.

So, according to the forecast of the regulator, by the end of next year, inflation can drop to 4-4.5% per annum.

  • © Konstantin Kokoshkin / Global Look Press

To contain prices, the Bank of Russia in 2022 may continue to raise the key rate, Elvira Nabiullina did not rule out.

It is assumed that such actions of the regulator will allow to cool consumer demand due to the growth of interest on loans and deposits.

At the same time, the government will need to support the proposal, which will ultimately slow down inflation.

Nikita Maslennikov, head of the Finance and Economics department at the Institute of Contemporary Development, shared this opinion in an interview with RT.

“The Cabinet should take deliberate measures and act proactively.

As a good option to combat food inflation, the authorities may start subsidizing farmers.

Now a difficult situation is developing with fertilizers, they are growing in price, so additional money for their purchase will not be superfluous for agricultural producers.

Such targeted support will help to keep prices for agricultural products, which make up a significant part of the food basket, ”the specialist explained.

Income measures

At the same time, even against the background of a noticeable rise in the price of goods, the incomes of Russians in real terms (taking into account inflation) returned to growth, said Vladimir Putin.

So, if in 2020 the corresponding indicator sank by 2%, then by the end of 2021 the value will grow by 3.5% on average.

The observed dynamics is largely related to the revival of the economy and the resumption of business, Valery Mironov believes.

In addition, according to the expert, the government's measures to support those in need had a positive impact.

“There were no hard lockdowns this year, so the incomes of small and medium-sized businesses began to grow.

In addition, the industries that have indeed suffered the most have begun to revive.

We are talking, for example, about air transportation and tourism.

At the same time, there were additional payments from the state to families with children.

All this affected incomes, ”Mironov emphasized.

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  • © Anatoliy Berislavskiy

Moreover, in order to maintain the income of citizens in 2022, the authorities plan to additionally increase the minimum wage and the cost of living to a level above inflation.

According to the president, the initiative will increase a number of social benefits and payments.

“However, this is certainly not enough.

This is only the necessary minimum of what the state is obliged to do.

We need to more actively create conditions for people to have a solid source of income of their own.

This includes reducing business costs, helping it free up funds to raise wages, to preserve existing jobs and create new ones, ”the Russian leader noted.

Transition to growth

In general, as Vladimir Putin said at a big press conference the day before, the Russian economy has not only recovered after last year's recession, but has already exceeded the pre-crisis level and returned to the growth trajectory.

At the end of 2021, the country's GDP will grow by 4.5%.

At the same time, the unemployment rate will be 4.4%, although before the start of the pandemic the figure was close to 4.6-4.7%.

According to the President, in the context of the pandemic, the Russian economy has shown its resilience, but now it is necessary to ensure its high-quality and long-term growth.

For this there are "powerful resources of the state" and a good investment potential of private business, he stressed.

“In general, it is important to move from emergency anti-crisis support measures to systemic actions to stimulate employment and business activity, to attract investments, technologies in the Russian economy, in promising projects that are significant for a decent and comfortable life for people in all regions of the country,” Putin explained.

The Russian leader also said that despite all the difficulties and forced adjustments, the work on the implementation of national projects is progressing on schedule.

As the President reminded, the implementation of the set goals has been going on for three years and has now "approached its equator."

In this regard, all the announced plans must be fully implemented within the next three years, Putin added.

“I would like to emphasize again that at the center of our large-scale work to achieve national development goals is, of course, the person, he is at the center of all our work, the well-being of the person.

The meaning of national projects is for people to see, feel - we repeat this many times - real, visible changes for the better both in megalopolises, and in small towns, and in the countryside.

And next year we all need such weighty and obvious results, ”the president said.