Official website of the President of Russia

News   /

Mr Kudrin told the President about the yearend results of the country’s economic development and the implementation of the federal law on the 2002 budget.

He said the past year was a success. The Government collected more taxes than planned, which helped to accumulate an additional financial reserve that would be spent on paying the external debt, most of which was to be paid in 2003. As of January 2003, the state reserve accounted for over 200 billion roubles and the budget surplus reached 1.4% of GDP.

The Finance Minister expressed his confidence that the combination of favourable economic indicators and a considerable improvement of budget implementation would contribute to Russia’s higher credit ratings and investment attractiveness.