DUBLIN, Ireland, April 21 (UPI) -- Russia is set to continue economic growth at 7 percent a year, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said Wednesday the Rosbalt news agency reported.
Russia's government believed it could maintain recent growth levels of around 7 percent by maintaining tight control and discipline on budgetary and financial affairs and by introducing needed tax reforms, Zhukov told the International Conference on Problems of Transition to a Market Economy in the Irish capital according to the report.
Zhukov said Russia needed to be able to generate more internal investment rather than rely too much on increased foreign direct investment and continued high prices for its raw material exports, especially oil and gas, Rosbalt said.
But Zhukov added that the Kremlin would continue to try and take advantage of the current favorable economic conditions to accumulate more financial reserves, especially in its Stabilization Fund to maintain the value of the ruble, the news agency said.
