Economics
Russia Minister Sees Economic ‘Blow Up’ Unless Central Bank Acts
- Oreshkin challenges regulator over consumer-credit boom
- Government worried about falling short of Putin’s growth goals
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With President Vladimir Putin regularly promising higher living standards, economy ministers in Russia tend to focus on upbeat news in their public statements. So it was something of a shock when Maxim Oreshkin warned of a looming credit crisis in a national radio interview.
“The economy will definitely fall into recession” if the consumer-lending surge continues unchecked until the bubble bursts on its own, Oreshkin said in a prime-time interview on the Ekho Moskvy radio station on July 21. “Our estimate is that 2021 is the year when it blows up.”