Russian economy ministry to focus on supporting demand, increasing effectiveness of state investment
MOSCOW. March 10 (Interfax) - Measures aimed at supporting demand and increasing the effectiveness of state capital investment are particularly important amid the current volatility on global markets, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said.
He said it is necessary to ensure the steady use of budget funds for investment by removing administrative barriers.
"Amid the current volatility of foreign markets, which will obviously also come to Russian trading floors today, measures aimed at supporting demand, along with the important efforts of our colleagues from the Finance Ministry and Central Bank, acquire key significance," Reshetnikov was quoted as saying in a ministry statement.
"The effective and rhythmic use of federal budget articles particularly related to investment is important here. On the instructions of the prime minister we are now preparing changes to the system of managing state capital investments that should increase their effectiveness at the federal and regional levels," Reshetnikov said.
"The market fluctuations we are seeing are substantial, but this has happened before. And Russian macroeconomic policy of recent years was built in order to ensure the economy's resilience to such episodes," he said.
"Furthermore, the Economic Development Ministry is working primarily on investment projects with implementation periods of up to five years, which are planned based on long-term estimates. Therefore, a large swathe of projects is removed from the impact zone of such fluctuations. The most important thing now is not to stop this work, but to accelerate. The government is prepared to remove investment barriers, infrastructure constraints and change industry regulation," Reshetnikov said.