Russia's 2025 GDP growth will be slightly lower than 2024, but that was the goal when talking about a "soft landing" - Putin

MOSCOW. April 24 (Interfax) - Russia's GDP growth in 2025 will be slightly lower than the pace seen in 2024, but this slowdown was anticipated and targeted when officials previously spoke about the advisability of a "soft landing" for the economy, President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting on economic issues.

At the end of last year, "a goal was set to ensure stable economic growth while simultaneously reducing inflation and maintaining a low level of unemployment," Putin said.

"The data from the beginning of this year confirm the importance and relevance of this approach," he said.

"Both the government and the Central Bank, as well as experts, agree that this year's GDP dynamics will be slightly below last year's [Russia's GDP grew 4.3% in 2024]. In fact, this is exactly what we talked about, and what we were aiming for. We spoke about the so-called 'soft landing' to preserve macroeconomic indicators and above all to combat inflation," he said.

"Indeed, in January-February, GDP growth amounted to 1.9% year-on-year. At the same time, manufacturing is growing more actively - it is up 5% in the first two months of this year. However, inflation remains high at over 10%. As I said, it is important to achieve a steady slowdown in price dynamics," he said.

"A constant, in-depth analysis of the current economic situation is extremely important. It is always in our field of view. Especially now, as the international economic environment is objectively becoming more complex, and commodity and financial markets are experiencing significant fluctuations due to intensifying global competition. It is necessary not only to monitor these factors and forecast their changes, but most importantly to seize the opportunities they present to develop domestic production, trade relations and exports, and to strengthen the national economy overall, so that under any external conditions we can achieve consistent, dynamic progress," Putin said when commenting on the current situation in the global economy.