Russian PM: Half year GDP growth will be 7%

GDP growth in Russia will be about 7% for the first six months of 2003, according to the Russian government's preliminary estimates. This was announced today in the Federation Council by Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.

The prime minister said that GDP increased by 7.1% between the beginning of January and the end of May. He also said that the population's real income rose by 14.5% over the same period. However, Kasyanov pointed out that 16 regions had seen industrial output either fall or remain stable. Investment into the real sector of the economy fell in 8 regions. The prime minister said that the government's policies would be aimed at ensuring that all regions have a minimum amount of budgetary resources and at overcoming the GDP imbalance between different regions.