"I do not want to make personal remarks on anyone and I shall not make any. Present-day economic changes are to the worse," he warned, however.
"I don't want to say things were fine during my premiership. There were many problems those days, too. The present cabinet has made many mistakes, however," the ex-premier noted.
The government has lost grip on the inflation pace. That is the worst problem for today, Mr. Kasyanov pointed out.
"It is a very bad thing to let inflation control slip. Investors do not believe any longer that the regime can keep inflation in check. That is the worst thing capital investors may encounter."
To expect the year's inflation keeping beyond a 8.5% ceiling is sheer wishful thinking, he emphatically added.
Investors' present-day mood will "reduce business activity and bring consumption down, and real wages will increase slower than actual earnings", warned Mr. Kasyanov.
Be that as it may, the national economy is not in for a crisis yet, just now. "The foundations of Russia's government have survived, so we shall last on their basis for some time," he said.
As for the current cabinet's idea to pay the national debt to the Paris creditors' club ahead of schedule, it is a good idea, the former prime minister went on. "It is the right thing to do but the idea demands correct implementation. What we have here is a debt of a political purport. There is no way to trade in such a debt. It does not indicate anything, it is a mere burden," he pointed out.
