Gov't wants to prevent ruble from strengthening over 6%

Policies of the Russian government will be aimed at preventing the pace of the ruble's strengthening from exceeding a 4 to 6 percent level per year in the future, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov declared today. Speaking about the economic policies of the government, Zhukov mentioned that GDP growth was forecasted to be 6.3 percent, inflation was planned to drop to 8 percent, growth in investment was to be 10 percent and an advance in the incomes of the public some 9 percent in 2005. He added that this forecast was based on the average annual Urals oil price of $28 per barrel. The deputy PM noted that these figures could be revised.