Andrei Belousov said economic growth exceeded 7% in July to August compared with the ministry's forecast growth of 6.5% for the year.
"We are going to have a relatively high indicator - 6.5% - this year," Belousov said.
At the same time, the deputy minister said the quality of economic growth was deteriorating. Industrial output has grown slower than GDP in the past two years and wage increases have failed to match labor productivity growth, he said.
Therefore, economic growth is entirely attributable to the rapid development of trade, wage increases and intensive growth in consumer lending, Belousov said. Many Russians, particularly in the big cities, have become used to taking out loans to buy items such as household appliances and cars in the last few years.
But the deputy minister cautioned, "This economic growth has to be seen as insufficiently sustainable and insufficiently qualitative to be viewed as a source of prosperity."
