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February 16, 2024Russia has enough resources to allocate the planned $100 billion for defense in 2024 and sustain such expenses even after the end of the war in Ukraine.
This opinion was voiced by Russian opposition economist Vladislav Inozemtsev in an interview with Radio Liberty.
This amount constitutes a third of Russia’s total budget and about 6% of its GDP. For comparison, during the Soviet era, defense spending reached 21% of GDP. Inozemtsev believes that such large military investments lead to economic growth in Russia “across the board” – due to increased consumption, extraction, and transportation of resources. Therefore, it is more likely that Vladimir Putin will continue to allocate significant sums to the military-industrial complex even after the war in Ukraine ends.
“The losses of military equipment by Russia are so extensive that the military-industrial complex will have to work for four to seven years to restore them. Therefore, the idea that once the war ends, all these people will be left without jobs and support will collapse is a fairy tale. For at least another 3-4 years, defense will continue to work at the same pace, either for stockpiling for future war or for compensating for the loss of the current one,” Inozemtsev stated.
He also said that the economic bloc of the Russian government has shown quite a professional approach.
“They have, as it turns out, a very adequate understanding of what is happening with the Russian financial system, taxation, and financial flows,” Inozemtsev concluded.
Earlier, Western media reported that Russia’s economy would grow faster in 2024 than forecasted by the IMF.