THE ANSWER IS, YOU’VE BEEN AT WAR FOR FOUR-PLUS YEARS WITH NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT BUT 1.3 MILLION CASUALTIES, SANCTIONS, AND A BUSTED SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND: Putin Demands Answers as Russia’s Economy Undershoots Expectations.
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday demanded explanations from the government and Central Bank over why Russia’s economy is performing worse than expected this year, calling for urgent measures to revive growth in his second public complaint about economic weakness in a month.
According to the Economic Development Ministry, GDP in January and February was 1.8% lower than in the same period last year. The Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Economic Forecasting (INP) estimated a 1.5% year-on-year contraction for the first quarter, while the Central Bank had previously forecast GDP growth of 1.6% over the same period.
The ministry attributed part of the decline to calendar effects, noting that January had two fewer working days and February one fewer than a year earlier. Adjusted for this, GDP was flat year-on-year in January and rose 0.3% in February.
Putin dismissed the explanation as insufficient.
Well, it is insufficient. But since he won’t end the war and keeps silencing his critics, it’s the best answer he’s going to get.