Russian Lawmakers Urge Legal Reform to Stimulate Economy

Speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament Sergei Naryshkin said that creating conditions to adopt Russia’s budget for the next year would be exceptionally challenging, given the crises in the global and Russian economies.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian lawmakers need to create a legal basis which will stimulate the growth of Russia’s economy, speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament Sergei Naryshkin said Tuesday.

"Even in these difficult circumstances, we must establish a legal blueprint, which will provide the basis for future economic growth. Far-sighted politicians use this time to create the conditions for future economic and social development, not to exacerbate the situation," Naryshkin said during the opening of the spring parliamentary session.

Naryshkin added that creating conditions to adopt Russia’s budget for the next year would be exceptionally challenging, given the crises in the global and Russian economies.

Russia experienced an economic downturn in 2014 after the United States and the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Moscow over its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.

Another reason for the slowdown of Russia’s oil-dependent economy was a global slump in the price of oil due to oversupply in the market, exacerbated by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision to keep its oil output unchanged.

In late November 2015, the International Monetary Fund said Russia’s economic outlook was improving, with the country’s economy heading toward stabilization.