Gref called obstacles to the growth of the Russian economy

The current exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar is far from a fair level and hinders the development of the economy. This opinion was expressed during the business breakfast "Bets against growth: What will the next year be like?" at SPIEF 2025 by Sberbank President German Gref.

"Our country is facing a large set of problems that can be called a perfect storm," Gref said. He stressed that the Central Bank's high rate "puts a lot of pressure on business profitability." And this poses a threat to economic growth not only this year, but also over the next 2-3 years, Gref believes.

Also, in his opinion, the ruble's exchange rate against the dollar is far from equilibrium — the equilibrium rate could be called over 100 rubles per dollar. And this is being felt by all export industries and, first of all, by the budget, which is facing a deficit.

According to the head of Sberbank, other constraints on economic growth include a shortage of labor, an unfavorable investment climate and the unavailability of technology. Separately, Gref noted the pressure on the prices of metals and hydrocarbons, as well as complicated logistics.

He stressed that the lag in productivity of the Russian economy from developed countries is "from 40% to four times," depending on the industry. At the same time, the forecast for population growth remains unfavorable, which requires compensation by increasing labor productivity using technology.

"We are now in a situation where we have to invent our own future. If we go with the flow, we will end up at the wrong point," Gref said, calling for joint efforts for economic growth.

The business breakfast was also attended by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Director of the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Department Andrey Gangan, Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev, Chairman of the Gazprom Neft Management Board Alexander Dyukov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and other government and business representatives.