Completely Unclear How to Implement Russia's Anti-Crisis Plan - Putin

Russian President Putin said during a meeting on the economy it was completely unclear what precisely needed to be done to be able to implement the anti-crisis plan.

NOVO-OGARYOVO (Sputnik) – There is no understanding of what exactly needs to be done in order to implement Russia’s economic anti-crisis plan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.

“It’s completely unclear what precisely needs to be done at this time to be able to implement [the anti-crisis plan]. Let’s talk about this in more detail,” Putin said during a meeting on the economy outside Moscow.

He said, however, that the government had already started implementing the plan.

“Overall, it’s clear what we’re talking about; we need to talk about this constantly. This is [a plan] of diversifying the economy, creating conditions to be ahead of the pace of development, creating a favorable climate, improving the management, stabilizing the exchange rate, and observing macro-economic indicators,” Putin added.

In January, the Russian government presented a $35-billion anti-crisis plan to stabilize the economy battered by Western sanctions and falling oil prices.

The biggest part of the plan backs Russia’s banks and the finance sector. The plan stipulates deep spending cuts, except for defense and social expenditures, and aims to balance the country's budget by 2017.

The Russian budget relies largely on oil revenues, which slumped in the second half of 2014 due to global overproduction. The ruble has also lost about half its value against the dollar since summer.