#23 - JRL 7210
DOUBLING OF RUSSIA'S GDP IN 10 YEARS THEORETICALLY POSSIBLE

MOSCOW, JUNE 4 (RIA NOVOSTI) - The doubling of Russia's gross domestic product in ten years is possible, provided a due economic policy is carried out, Russian presidential economic aide Andrei Illarionov has said at a press conference.

To him, the goal set by the Russian president in his address to the Federal Assembly "is not surprising, impossible or exotic." "It can be done in the timeframe which Vladimir Putin mentioned," stressed the presidential aide.

At the same time, this goal can be met only in case an economic policy aimed at cutting the expenses of the Russian economy is pursued, Illarionov stressed. It concerns the costs due to the size of public expenses, quality of public institutions, degree of state regulation of the economy, as well as the size of the monopolistic sector in Russia.

Illarionov spoke, in particular, of a planned increase in electricity tariffs, coming to 2 billion dollars. According to Illarionov, the planned 16-percent increase in tariffs is not in correspondence with economic expenses and only a 6-percent increase can be seen as well-grounded. "Such increases kill the very possibility of doubling the GDP in ten years to come," emphasized the presidential economic aide.