Russian economy is losing about 100 billion rubles ($1.34 billion) a day due to restrictions imposed to contain the new coronavirus, Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov said on Friday, according to Forbes Russia.
“In the current situation, we are losing about 100 billion rubles of GDP a day throughout the country. These are very big losses,” Reshetnikov told the Rossiya 1 broadcaster.
The deficit of the Russian Federal budget in 2020 may amount to 4.5-5 percent of GDP, Reshetnikov added.
The minister expressed the hope that the ‘powerful investment’ in the healthcare sector that the state is now making will also have an economic effect.
He added that companies should begin to be opened as soon as there is confidence that doctors are coping with the epidemic situation.
Russia already announced measures to help oil companies and support the ruble amid plunging global prices, as well as separate state aid packages for small and medium businesses and airlines.
