Mr Putin and Mr Kasyanov discussed the economic situation in Russia in January and the progress of negotiations on Russia’s WTO entry.
Mr Kasyanov noted that forecasted budget revenues would meet their targets. He also informed the President of the main particulars of the banking reform strategy signed by Mr Kasyanov and Central Bank Chairman Viktor Gerashchenko on December 30 last year.
According to preliminary figures, the cash incomes of the population in Russia last year rose by 6.4%, GDP increased by 5.2%, and the budget was executed with a surplus of 2.4%. As of January 4 this year, the country’s gold and hard currency reserves totalled $36.7 billion (on January 1, 2001 they stood at $27.9 billion).