Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A scientific forum “Strategy for Russia” organized by the Free Economic Society of Russia and the International Union of Economists was held in Moscow to discuss measures to restore the Russian economy.
According to forecasts of specialists from Russia, by the end of 2020, GDP is expected to fall by 4% in Russia. In their opinion, the economy will return to active recovery growth in the 2nd quarter of 2021, and to the pre-crisis level - only in 2022.
By the end of 2020, real incomes of the population are expected to decline by 14% compared to 2013, and the number of the poor, whose incomes are below the subsistence level, is expected to increase from 18 million (2019) to 23 million.
Forum participants note that 50% of the Russian economy is formed at the expense of consumer demand, and 30% of jobs are low-tech and low-paid. Experts see an effective solution to the problem of falling real incomes of the population, which carries a serious social threat, in providing effective measures to support economic growth with the simultaneous promotion of an innovative economy.
Analysts consider it possible to increase the real income of the population by 17% by introducing a number of measures: a) raising pensions, unemployment benefits, easing debt payments for 40 million people with a total debt to banks of 20 trillion rubles; b) freeing the population from the burden of high interest rates on loans; c) transforming successful subsidiary farms into private farms, and uniting the farmers themselves into cooperatives and corresponding associations.
According to experts, economic growth will be stimulated by keeping intact half of the gold and foreign exchange reserves in the amount of US$300 billion. The remaining funds are proposed to be used in the form of long-term investment loans for the technological re-equipment of production, the introduction of new capacities and the creation of modern transport logistics.
In general, according to experts, the above measures will contribute to the growth of Russian GDP by 5% and a large-scale restructuring of the economy, create the basis for attracting massive foreign direct investment and the introduction of advanced technologies.