Abel Aganbegyan, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences

There is much that is correct and reasonable in the government’s anti-crisis plan. But there are three most important things missing.

First, it is necessary to reduce the key interest rate of the Central Bank from 17% to at least 8%, to the level of expected inflation. And this must be done in the coming months. And in the 16th year both will be reduced to 5%.

But for this we need to take a new approach to suppressing inflation. This should not be the task of the Central Bank alone, as it is now, but the main task of the entire leadership of the country. We need to start with at least the development of a three-year program to limit tariff rates of natural monopolies and oligarchic structures, with the transition to a regime of austerity for state corporations, the development of a competitive environment in the national economy, etc.

Second. We need to make a gesture of goodwill and abandon anti-sanctions and allow food from Europe into the country again. This will be a serious step towards normalizing relations with the European Union and will simultaneously reduce inflation and improve supplies to the population. Now is a very favorable moment for this - many in the West are also raising the question of lifting sanctions. And the most important thing that is not in the government’s plan is support for accelerated investment. The economy is driven forward only by investments, and nothing else. Our investments have been declining for the second year now. If you do not adopt an investment support program, they will fall very strongly - by 10-15%.

Investments are investments in the future. If investment decreased in 2014, then there cannot be economic growth in 2014 or 2014, because no new production capacity was built. We need an annual 10% increase in investment, as was provided for in V.V. Putin’s May decrees, where the task was set to increase the share of investment in GDP from 20% to 25% in 2015. If the government had fulfilled this task, there would be no stagnation, no recession, no devaluation of the ruble now. We would live better with economic growth of 3-4%.

Where to get money for formed investments? Not from the budget, they are not there. But there are bank assets amounting to about 67 trillion rubles. A figure close to the country's GDP. Of these, investment loans account for 1.5%. This share can easily be doubled or tripled. In order for the transition to accelerated investment to have the greatest effect and allow the economy to move forward, it must be supported by stronger measures to stimulate economic growth and the removal of barriers along this path. This is why institutional changes and structural reforms are needed.

"Reduce the rate, support investments"