![]() ![]() “Life changes,” she offered, “nothing stays forever, not love, or happiness.” “Dairy products, especially butter, meat and even bread have gone up in price,” said Lidia Adreevna as she shopped and examined prices at an Auchan supermarket in Moscow. Higher rates, which make it more expensive for businesses to expand and consumers to buy on credit, is likely to slow growth.Ĭonsumers are also feeling the squeeze for daily purchases. The central bank rapidly raised interest rates to 13% over the summer, as annual inflation continued to climb. The spike in government spending and borrowing has seriously stressed an already overheated economy. Last week, it fell to a symbolic break point of 100 to the dollar, further fueling inflation and raising anxiety levels among consumers. The insistent demand for foreign currency - to pay for imported goods or provide a safe investment - has also caused the value of the ruble to sink at a precipitous pace. As Laura Solanko, a senior adviser at the Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition, said: “When a country is at war, gross domestic product is a fairly poor measure of welfare.” Producing bullets adds to a country’s growth rate without necessarily improving the quality of life. Total output, which the Russian Central Bank estimates may rise as much as 2.5% this year, could outpace the EU and possibly even the United States. It has pumped money into the economy at a rapid pace to finance its military machine, putting almost every available worker into a job and raising the size of weekly paychecks. Moscow has found other buyers for its oil. The Russian economy has proved to be much more resilient than many Western governments assumed after imposing a punishing string of sanctions. Nineteen months later, the economic picture is decidedly mixed. ![]() The United States used its financial might to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian assets and cut the country off from the global financial system. The European Union, its biggest trading partner, quickly broke economic relations, upending well-established supply chains and reliable sources of income from abroad. Since Russia sent soldiers across the border in February 2022, its economy has had to adapt to dramatic changes with astonishing speed. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |