Russian Economy Actively Developing, Says Putin

The positive trends in the Russian economy are strengthening, with retail turnover increasing by nearly 25% since early April, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced during a meeting dedicated to economic issues.

According to the state leader, "the Russian economy continues to actively develop within the framework of a new growth model." He is confident that "the GDP of Russia will significantly increase in real terms based on April's results." Given this economic growth, the government has revised its socio-economic development forecast for the better, added Putin.

He noted that there has been an increase in freight loading on railways in the Republic. While this figure was about 2% in March, it rose to 3.6% in early April. "There are grounds to assume that economic activity will continue to grow," the president said.

In March, the business activity index reached 56.8 points. Putin emphasized that this is "the third value in history and directly speaks of the growing optimism of domestic businesses and positive trends."