In December last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to adopt an action plan aimed at ensuring that by 2019-2020 the country's economy growth exceeds the global economy growth rate.
"The economic climate is changing. It is very clear that our economy has begun growing, albeit perhaps not quite confidently yet… This year, we are expecting the economy to grow by between 1 and 2 percent… The program we are currently working on, the government's action plan through 2025, aims at the growth of 3 percent and more for our economy, to exceed world's growth figures," Medvedev said in the interview to Vesti v Subbotu TV program.
"It is very important that we have been able to handle inflation. Relatively not so long ago, the inflation again seemed raging after rouble depreciation… [The inflation] was in double digits and the people's incomes took a hit. Nobody liked that, except maybe certain business segments who always profit from the depreciation," the prime minister said.
The Russian economy suffered a setback in 2014, as the ruble lost about half of its value against the US dollar amid low global oil prices and Western economic sanctions imposed against Russia over the situation in eastern Ukraine. In January 2016, the ruble was at 77 per US dollar which, on the bright side, made exports from the country more competitive and helped to bring the budget into balance.