Russian Pm On The Results Of The Outgoing Year

Russian prime-minister Mikhail Kasyanov and members of the government positively assess the overall results of the year and are of the opinion that major objectives of the year have been achieved. In the course of a press conference in Moscow, the chairman of the government indicated that from the point of view of economic and social policy the passing year was rather successful but at the same time he indicated the necessity to conduct a thorough analysis in the beginning of 2002 of the existing imperfections and to "adjust the economic policy". While talking about the results of the year, Kasyanov reported that the gross domestic product had grown by more than 5 percent which was one of the highest indicators in the world. The premier said that in 2001 a good possibility for further implementation of economic and social reforms had emerged. He added that thus the next year for the government would be the year of implementation of plans drafted in the course of the last two years. At the same time Kasyanov acknowledged that the inflation level reached 18.5 percent instead of the expected 14 percent. The prime-minister stated that "in theory by the end of the year one should have toughened the finance policy". But according to him, the necessity to meet obligations to raise pensions, wages and to generate revenue prevented that. The prime-minister indicated that the combination of all factors did not allow the government to cut budgetary expenses. In addition to that Kasyanov indicated as a negative factor the decrease of GDP and industrial output growth in the fourth quarter. He specified that this was caused by the general situation in the world. Kasyanov reminded that the export share of the Russian GDP composition was large and as a result of oil and metals prices' drop revenues of exporting enterprises declined.