Regional Economy: economic activity continues to grow

In July—August 2021, most sectors continued to expand their output. Businesses were positive in their estimation of the current and future developments in demand. Growing economic activity set the major trends in the economy. These are the findings published in the report Regional Economy: Commentaries by Bank of Russia Main Branches.

Specifically, growing revenues enabled companies to index salaries for their employees thereby supporting consumer demand. The positive expectations of businesses boosted implementation of investment projects. This resulted in a larger output of special transport vehicles and technological equipment, and a higher demand for corporate loans.

Based on their positive estimates of the current and future demand, businesses continued to stick to elevated price expectations and pass through their higher costs to prices. However, this process is uneven and depends on conditions in the sales markets for specific goods and services.

This issue especially focuses on the factors of businesses’ price expectations and changes in monetary conditions.