Russia’s elite sound the alarm on the economy amid high interest rates

When Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed an annual big-business gathering this month, he could not help but crow about how Western sanctions against the economy had failed.

“The task was to deal Russia a strategic blow … to weaken industry, finance and services in our country,” Putin said at the VTB investment conference, pointing out that economic growth in Russia would reach 4 percent this year, far outstripping rates in Europe. “It is clear that these plans have collapsed.”

But despite the polite applause that greeted the Russian president, tension has been breaking out into the open among the Russian elite over the mounting cost of sanctions on the economy. Executives from major businesses have been warning in growing numbers that central bank interest rate hikes to combat rampant inflation — caused by sanctions and Putin’s wartime spending spree — could bring the economy to a halt next year.

Read the full story here.