17 May 2004 12:21
Russian deputy PM reports to Putin with first quarter economic results
Moscow, 17 May: The growth of industrial production in April sped up in comparison with March of this year, Deputy
Prime Minister Aleksandr Zhukov reported to President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in the Kremlin.
"The situation improved in April compared to March. The growth of industrial production over four months
(January-April) was 7.4 per cent, while it was 7.6 per cent over the same period of last year," Zhukov said.
"The speed of economic growth is slightly higher than last year," he noted.
According to Zhukov, the growth of industrial production is not linked to high oil prices. "Production grew most
in machine-building and metal processing, by 15 per cent, while the production of building materials increased by 10 per
cent, food industry production by 8 per cent, and the production of chemicals and petrochemicals by 10 per cent. The
growth strategy is not linked to high oil prices, while the growth is characteristic for goods whose production requires
a high level of preparation," Zhukov stressed.
Zhukov noted that the volume of investment had increased by 12.6 per cent compared to 2003. "This creates the
conditions for further economic growth," Zhukov noted. According to him, "after some slowing down of the speed
of growth in March, the situation has now improved." "In April we had growth of 0.7-0.8 per cent on
March," Zhukov said.
He also reported that the consumer price rises this year are within the forecast and will not exceed 10 per cent over
the year. "Consumer prices for January-April increased by 4.6 per cent, against 6.2 per cent over the same period
of 2003," Zhukov said. "So far we are within the forecast for 2004, according to which price increases should
not exceed 10 per cent," he believes.
He said that the population's incomes increased by 13.2 per cent in January-April of this year.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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