Russian president, Vladimir Putin, takes part in a live TV show.

Russian president Vladimir Putin stated that he is confident about the future economic growth of his country. Putin said this during his appearance last week in a question and answer show. The harsh drop of the oil prices during the whole of last year and the lowest value of the ruble in Russia’s recent history are nothing to worry about he says. Putin also stated that all of the international sanctions that have been imposed on Russia because its invasion of the Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula may look catastrophic but nevertheless this will bring Russia closer towards a new economic growth. “It is important that we use the current situation to our own advantage in order to reach new heights in development,” Putin said during the national televised show which included call-ins. “If we are able to strive in preserving the domestic politics and the current amount of consolidation within the society, we won’t have to fear any threats.

Last weeks news does seem to justify the current positive attitude of President Putin, at least for the moment. The numbers of industrial output have jumped for March and inflation has slowed down for the time being while it is still extremely high. Another promising thing for Russia is the fact that the ruble is continuing to grow against the global benchmark currencies. Though it is still extremely lower than last year, the ruble has rebounded quickly and grown dramatically as opposed to its historic low late last year. During last Monday the ruble’s value plunged once again when the central bank of Russia decided to increase the price for charging foreign exchange repurchase contracts. The constant declining value of the ruble has been a big thorn in the flesh for the Russian economy by causing the purchasing power of Russian people to decrease.

Nevertheless the recent rebound of the ruble has also caused concerns in the Kremlin. Most of the dept that is owed to Russia’s oil and gas industry is denominated in United States dollars, which means that as the ruble grows each dollar that is worth to Russia is worth less in their domestic economy. Russia is also having problems reaching the bigger markets as the sanctions prevent them from doing this. With all of these issues still facing them it certainly seems like Russia is not out of the woods yet.