For Putin, it is economics that is stupid

Amongst the leaders in the world today, Putin holds a unique position. He has revived Russia after the collapse of the Soviet in 1990. He assumed office as acting president on 31 December 1999. Except for the interregnum of 2008 to 2012 he has continued as President of Russia. His performance is sketched below.

I am grateful to Sprinter Family @SprinterFamily in twitter who has drawn a graphic of financial performance of Putin as President from 1999 to 2024. Pointedly, Medvedev who was president during 2008 to 2012 was under his tutelage, hence his time can be included in the span of Putin Era. Following highlights indicate how Putin has manoeuvred through tough times to bring the best results:

1. GDP was US$ 195.91 Billion in 1999 rose to US$ 2,215 Billion in 2023

2. GDP per capita US$ 1,330.79 in 1999 went up US$ 14,403.57 in 2023

3. Annual inflation rate which was 36.56% in 1999 reduced to 3.51% in 2023

4. Gold & forex reserves was US$ 12.6 Billion in 1999 picked up US$ 600.8 Billion in 2023

5. Debt as a percentage of GDP was 92.1 in 1999 brought down to 23 percent in 2023

6. Monthly income per person was Ruble 1,523 in 1999 jacked up Ruble 65,094 in 2023

7. Lastly, pension per month which was Ruble 449 in 1999 got elevated to Ruble 19,322 in 2023

On the first shy these may appear to be just statistics and an average Western country could have done the same thing the critics may say. But what we need to understand is the turbulent times Russia went through managing the post-Soviet collapse and internal economic deficiencies. More than that, what these figures communicate is the rate of progression and that matters a lot in domestic economics and by extension in geoeconomics.

A country need to have a satisfied workforce who have sufficient monthly income to support their family members without getting into debt trap. In geoeconomics power play a country that has satisfied citizenry could tilt the balance in the scale of progress towards positive realm.

Today Russia as a whole is more powerful than the Western nations put together because the psyche of the Russians and their willingness to endure challenge and hardship to make Russia great again which alone contributes immensely for the achievements Russia gained  so far in geoeconomics!  

 

Cheers!

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail: cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist