OREANDA-NEWS Russia expects to reach 2% of economic growth per year by 2020, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Russian TV channels live.

"To develop further, we, of course, need other growth rates, which we have outlined in the main activities of the government. We proceed from the assumption that the growth rate will be as I said, and by 2020 we will strive to reach a higher growth rate, as it is envisaged - about 2%, and in 2021 - 3%. We need to aim for growth at the global level. Although we must admit that because of the great trade war that unfolded in the world, the pace of world growth has also fallen," Medvedev said.

The Prime Minister also said that the growth of the Russian economy in January - October 2018 amounted to 1.7% in annual terms. "The growth rate for 10 months of this year is about 1.7%, we expected this figure. Nevertheless, the growth continues, and this growth plus or minus corresponds to what is, for example, in European countries," Medvedev said.

The Prime Minister drew attention to the low inflation in Russia. "I should note the low inflation, this is generally an achievement of the last time. And this year, we are likely to reach the figure of about 3.5%. In any case, we keep within the control 4%, which we determined for ourselves a few years ago. We have reached the bar on inflation, it allows people to simply plan their income and expenses," Medvedev said.

This year, Russia has been able to increase its foreign exchange reserves in the face of continuing sanctions pressure from a number of countries. "In these circumstances, we were able to increase our foreign exchange reserves, this year they increased by about $30 billion to $460 billion is "airbag" - said Medvedev.

In General, the Prime Minister assessed the economic results of the year positively.

"The results of the year, with all the difficulties, costs-it is clear that we are also dissatisfied with many - but in General we can assess as quite positive," he said.

In addition, the Russian economy has a sufficient margin of safety to develop further.

"For the first time in a few years, we will have a surplus budget, and not for some percentage. This suggests that we have properly disposed of income and calculated the consequences of the decisions that we make. We have laid down the most conservative figures for oil. Our economy has a margin of safety due to these solutions," Medvedev concluded.