Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that inflation in Russia was at an “alarming” 9.3% but he insisted that the economic situation was “stable”.
Putin also talked about a new Russian hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile “Oreshnik” during his annual news conference in Moscow on Thursday.
He began the briefing by saying that Russia’s economy was on track to grow by nearly 4% this year, but he acknowledged that consumer prices were high.
“One alarming sign is inflation. I was talking to the chairman of the Central Bank yesterday when I was preparing (for the press conference). Elvira told me that it is already somewhere around 9.3%. But wages have increased by 9% in real terms, I want to emphasize this, exactly in real terms, minus inflation. And the income of the population has also increased. So on the whole, this situation is stable and secure,” Putin said.
In response to a question about a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile that Russia used for the first time last month to strike Ukraine, Putin scoffed at claims by some Western experts that it could be intercepted by NATO’s air defences.
“Let them supply THAAD, it is more advanced, well, somewhere similar to our S-400. If Patriot can be correlated with S-300, then THAAD is somewhere with S-400. The characteristics are weaker, but on the whole with S-400. Let them supply it, we will ask our guys in Ukraine to give us a hint, maybe there are some modern solutions there, some valuable solutions for us. When I say our guys, I’m not being ironic, we have people to talk to in Ukraine and there are many of our guys there who also dream together with us of ridding their country of the neo-Nazi regime,” he said.
Putin Admits Inflation in Russia at ‘Alarming’ 9.3 Percent But says Economic Situation ‘Stable’ world-news World News | Latest International News | Global World News | World Breaking Headlines Today
