07 July 2003 20:38
Putin says economic growth key to improving living standards
Moscow, 7 July: President Vladimir Putin said Russia will be facing two principal tasks in the foreseeable future:
ensuring sufficient economic growth and improving living standards in the country, ensuring security and solving
demographic problems [sentence as received].
"The country cannot be called prosperous if a considerable number of its citizens are struggling to get out of
poverty," Putin said in an interview with Malaysian journalists on Monday [7 July].
He believes it necessary to "raise the living standards of the population".
"But is hardly possible to achieve this goal by giving away accumulated wealth," he said. Instead "it
is necessary to effectively respond to the challenges that I have just mentioned. The main of them is economic
growth."
In his view, this can be done only if there is social and political stability in society and the state, if there is a
proper economic policy, primarily in the tax sphere, a "developed judicial system, security, good conditions for
investments, the development of promising sectors of the economy".
Some of these tasks are being fulfilled. In particular, "investment conditions in Russia are improving,"
and "compared to last year, investment in principal capital grew 11 per cent."
"We are strengthening legislation that guarantees the rights of investors and owners, we are introducing the
international accounting system, and we are constantly reducing the tax burden," Putin said, adding that "the
government and the leadership of Russia will continue this policy".
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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