MOSCOW, July 14: Russian economic growth slowed in the first half of 2005 to 5.4 per cent according to preliminary data, casting further doubt on President Vladmir Putin’s aim of doubling the size of the Russian economy by 2010, the Russian prime minister said on Thursday. Mikhail Fradkov, the Russian premier, said the pace of economic growth in the first half of 2005 “will not enable us to completely achieve the objective of doubling GDP” by 2010, according to a report by Russian news agency Interfax.

At the end of June, Russia’s economic development minister, German Gref, also had warned that Putin’s goal of doubling GDP in the next five years was “not realistic”. To meet the target the Russian economy would need to grow at an average annual rate above 7.0 per cent.

This was achieved in 2004, when the economy expanded by 7.1pc compared with 2003, but the latest government estimate for 2005 is for growth of only 5.8pc.

The Russian prime minister also expressed concern about an acceleration in consumer prices in the first half, which rose 8 per cent.—AFP