LATEST DATA – December 10 th – 17th, 2010

Vladimir Putin, from interview with the nation December 17^th, 2010.

GDP – showed growth of 3,8%, indicating a positive trend. A rise in production by the end of 2010 amount to 8,5-8,6%. Russians’ real incomes in 2010 rose by 2 percent a year, but real wages – by 4.2%, pensions – by 44.9%. This past year has created 1 million 200 thousand new jobs, the economy will come pre-crisis level in the first half of 2012.

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.

Assuming an oil price of $75 per barrel, Russia would have a deficit of 4.6 percent of gross domestic product, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said, while in 2007 — when oil averaged $70 — the country had a 5 percent surplus. “That means we’ve really done some serious back-stepping from the principles of fiscal balance,” he added, Interfax reported.

With state debt of less than 11 percent, Russia will be able to handle any fiscal challenges in 2011, Kudrin said.

The volume of incoming revenues to the federal budget in January – November 2010 amounted to 7 trillion 432.365 billion roubles, expenses – 8 trillion 343.865 billion roubles, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
Cash budget deficit for 11 months of 2010 amounted to 911.501 billion roubles, or 2.2% of GDP, primary deficit – 724.564 billion roubles (1.8% of GDP).

According to Sergey Ignatiev, head of the Russian Central Bank, in November, 2010, the capital outflow from Russia amounted to 9 billion dollars. Since the beginning of the year this value reached 29 billion dollars.

In November inflation has grown 8.4% since the beginning of the year, fueled by a crippling summer drought that drove food prices higher.

Moscow.

Sergei Pakhomov, acting head of Moscow‘s debt committee, said that the city could sell 500 million euros ($611 million) of debt to international investors in 2011 if conditions are favourable, Bloomberg reported.