MOSCOW, May 7 (Reuters) - Russia's government said on
Thursday that annual economic growth would rise to five percent
by 2001 and inflation should drop to between 3.7 and 4.5 percent
under a three-year budget plan.
A document made available to reporters after a cabinet
meeting forecast that the rouble rate would be 6.72 per dollar
against the present official rate of 6.1360. Gross domestic
procuct grew 0.4 percent in 1997 and consumer price inflation
was 11 percent.
The finance ministry forecast put the budget deficit for
2001 at 88.7 billion roubles, or 2.7 percent of GDP, down from
113.4 billion roubles, or 3.6 percent, in 1999 and this year's
projected deficit of 4.7 percent.
Foreign sources used to cover the deficit would amount to
$2.3 billion in 1999, while domestic resources would cover 99.02
billion roubles, the document said.
State debt servicing was seen dropping to 27.1 percent of
budget expenditure, or 3.5 percent of GDP, in 2001 from 27.8
percent, or 3.6 percent of GDP, in 2000 and 30.5 percent, or 4.3
percent of GDP, in 1999.
The ministry forecast that the amount spent on state debt
servicing would grow by 20 billion roubles in 1999, by five
billion in 2000 and 4.5 billion in 2001, largely because of last
year's Asian financial crisis. |
