New Delhi, 11 September (H.S.):

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday compared the economic performance of BRICS and the G7, saying that over the past five years, BRICS countries accounted for more than 40 per cent of global gross domestic product, compared with 29 per cent for the G7. During the same period, BRICS contributed more than half of global economic growth.

Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum, Putin said international competition was increasingly taking the form of sanctions, disruptions to transportation routes and other forms of pressure. Despite these challenges, he said, business cooperation and investment among BRICS countries could help make global economic relations stronger and more resilient. He said traditional centres of economic growth were gradually giving way to new centres of development, driven primarily by the large populations and dynamic domestic markets of BRICS countries.

Putin said Russia had been subjected to more than 30,000 sanctions, nearly twice the total number of sanctions imposed on all other countries in the world combined. Despite this, he said, Russia had strengthened its national sovereignty and expanded economic ties with reliable partners. Over the past three years, Russia’s economic growth has remained above the global average.

According to the Russian President, the Russian economy grew by 10.3 per cent during 2023-24, while the unemployment rate fell to a record low of 2.3 per cent. He also highlighted technological changes in areas such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, digital platforms and modern financial instruments. These developments, he said, include both Russia’s domestic technologies and solutions developed by its BRICS partners.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar