Coming Out of Pandemic, Russia at Risk of High Inflation as Well as Deep Recession

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 20 – Because of the fiscal policies Moscow adopted during the pandemic and pent-up demand, Russia is at risk of much higher inflation at a time of recession, a situation that leaves it with the worst of both worlds and is prompting calls for higher taxes to reduce demand (vtimes.io/2021/04/20/kto-oplatit-schet-za-koronakrizis-a4552 and vtimes.io/2021/04/19/miru-nuzhen-pandemicheskii-nalog-a4534).

            Today, the Russian authorities reported registering 8704 new cases of infection and 402 new deaths from the coronavirus over the last 24 hours as Russia continues at a plateau over all while some regions are improving and others are deteriorating (t.me/COVID2019_official/2754 and regnum.ru/news/society/3241939.html).

            Moscow business groups are concerned about the deterioration of the epidemiological situation in the capital and its impact on the economy (regnum.ru/news/3248203.html), an indication that the situation in the city and its environs may be worse than officials have been suggesting.

            Elsewhere around the country, many governments are extending existing restrictions or even tightening them and cancelling plans for parades in early May (regnum.ru/news/3247321.html, regnum.ru/news/3247373.html and regnum.ru/news/3247856.html).

            Another Duma deputy has been hospitalized with the coronavirus infection, but officials are saying that they have all the necessary protections against the pandemic in place in the country’s schools (regnum.ru/news/3247786.html and regnum.ru/news/3247725.html).

            On the vaccine front, many Russians appear to be waiting for the widespread use of Sputnik-Lite, a vaccine that requires only one shot rather than two (meduza.io/cards/govoryat-v-rossii-skoro-poyavitsya-sputnik-layt-i-mozhno-budet-delat-ne-dva-ukola-a-odin-eto-tak-zhe-nadezhno-zaschitit-ot-kovida).

            But even before that happens, Moscow city has announced plans to introduce a program to give senior citizens special benefits if they get the current vaccines, something officials hope will boost demand for immunization (sobyanin.ru/vaktsinatsiya-ot-covid-19-dlya-starshego-pokoleniya).

            And Moscow officials have announced that Argentina has become the latest country to begin to produce the Russian vaccine on license (sputnikvaccine.com/rus/newsroom/pressreleases/proizvodstvo-vaktsiny-sputnik-v-nachalos-v-argentine/).

            Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments in Russia today,

·         A new study shows that during the pandemic, 19 percent of co-workers avoided meeting outside of work lest they get the infection (regnum.ru/news/3247580.html).

·         Russians are increasingly worried that returning immigrant workers will bring the coronavirus with them and spark a new wave of infections (rosbalt.ru/moscow/2021/04/20/1898290.html).

·         Vladimir Putin called for international cooperation in fighting the pandemic because he said no one country could overcome the coronavirus on its own (regnum.ru/news/3247620.html).