During his 13th annual Q&A session, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was able to prevent a spiraling inflation.
Putin said during the Q&A session:
"We faced certain external economic limitations that affected the growth rate, our development. But in general, we now see that the ruble is strengthening, stock markets are on the rise. We were able to prevent an inflationary spiral."
In recent months Russian economy deteriorated due to a sharp decrease in oil prices and partly the Western sanctions imposed against Moscow amid the Ukraine conflict.
However, in spring 2015 the ruble started rapidly regaining its positions.
In mid-March, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that Russian economy has passed its lowest point at the end of 2014 and is now stabilizing. According to Siluanov, Russia’s inflation rate in 2015 will stand between 11 and 12 percent and in 2016 it will drop to 6-7 percent.
Earlier in April, Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said that the economic recession in the Russia would come to a halt in the third quarter of 2015.
The president also stated that the country managed to hold a hike in the unemployment rate in 2014.
“We were able to hold down a hike in unemployment, which of course has grown, in the middle of last year it was around 3-5.4 [percent], and now it’s at 5.8 [percent]. We were nonetheless able to suppress the growth.”
In summer 2014, Russia was hit by recession after the global oil market experienced an over 50-percent slump in oil prices that significantly reduced the nation's budget revenues.
The economic downturn prompted Russian authorities to act swiftly to contain the setback to the Russian social sector, with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov saying the country needed to brace for an increase in the unemployment rate.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets vowed in January the government was doing everything possible to prevent job losses.
There were an estimated 873,000 people officially registered as unemployed in January, according to the government figures.
