JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin delays $360bn spending plan as Covid-19 batters economy” – Financial Times/ Henry Foy

“Volte-face comes shortly after vote that allows Russian president to extend his rule for another 16 years.”

“… Putin has delayed his flagship … national investment plan by six years as the coronavirus pandemic pitches Russia into recession and leaves a hole in the federal budget. … Putin unveiled the so-called National Projects two years ago as a much-needed Rbs25.7tn ($362bn) injection into the Russian economy … promis[ing] it would lift stagnant living standards and drive up moribund GDP growth to exceed the global average by 2024. The decision to delay the initiative, billed … as … Putin’s primary domestic objective during his current term … is the starkest sign yet of the damage the Covid-19 pandemic is wreaking on Russia’s economy and the long-term impact on the country’s budget revenues. …”

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