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Russia could lag behind BRICS peers, warns minister
September 19, 2013, 7:12 am

Only 2 per cent of Russians are ready to start business compared to 21 per cent in other BRICS nations on an average [Getty Images]

Only 2 per cent of Russians are ready to start business compared to 21 per cent in other BRICS nations on an average [Getty Images]

With a slowdown in GDP growth, Russia will lag behind its BRICS peers, warned Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev on Wednesday.

Russia’s economic growth has fallen below the world’s average for the first time in five years, Ulyukayev noted.

“This year, for the first time since the global crisis (in 2008) , we have the GDP below the world’s average. This is a very serious red signal for us,” Ulyukayev told members of the Russian Duma, or lower house of the parliament.

Only 2 per cent of Russians are ready to start business compared to 21 per cent in other BRICS nations on an average.

Economic growth has been falling since the second half of 2012, with the GDP expanding only 1.4 per cent in the first half of 2013 over the same period last year, he said.

The Russian official blamed weak industrial growth figures in Russia on sagging demand in global markets and the continuing European recession.

“We’re going to have nearly the same rate as the United States, which is coming out of recession,” Ulyukayev said.

He said a combination of these factors have hit the export-oriented Russian economy.

Capital outflow from Russian economy could amount to $70 billion, the ministry has forecast.

Ulyukayev also warned that it would be challenging for Russia to catch up with the world’s average pace of growth even in 2014.

“Unfortunately, we don’t see opportunities in 2014 to get up to the world average,” he told the Duma.

 

Source: Agencies