The most powerful successor state to Kievan Rus' was Grand Duchy of Moscow. It would annex rivals such as Tver and Novgorod, and eventually become the basis of the modern Russian state. After the fall ofConstantinople in 1453, Moscow claimed succession to the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire. While still under the domain of the Mongol-Tatars and with their connivance, the Duchy of Moscow (or "Muscovy") began to assert its influence in Western Russia in the early 14th century. Assisted by the Russian Orthodox Church and Saint Sergius of Radonezh's spiritual revival, Russia inflicted a defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). Ivan III (Ivan the Great) eventually threw off the control of the Tatar invaders, consolidated surrounding areas under Moscow's dominion and was the first to take the title "grand duke of all the Russias".[67]
In 1547, Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) was officially crowned the first Tsar of Russia. During his long reign, Ivan IV annexed the Tatar khanates (Kazan, Astrakhan) along the Volga Riverand transformed Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state. Ivan IV promulgated a new code of laws (Sudebnik of 1550), established the first Russian feudal representative body (Zemsky Sobor) and introduced local self-management into the rural regions.[68][69] But Ivan IV's rule was also marked by the long and unsuccessful Livonian War against the coalition of Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden for access to the Baltic coast and sea trade.[70] The military losses, epidemics and poor harvests[71] weakened the state, and the Crimean Tatars were able to burn down Moscow.[72] Many Crimean wars were largely slave raids.[73] For a list of raids see Russo-Crimean Wars.[74] The death of Ivan's sons, combined with thefamine of 1601–1603,[71] led to the civil war and foreign intervention of the Time of Troubles in the early 1600s.[75] By the mid-17th century there were Russian settlements in Eastern Siberia, on the Chukchi Peninsula, along the Amur River, and on the Pacific coast. The Bering Straitbetween Asia and North America was first sighted by a Russian explorer in 1648.
[edit]Imperial Russia
Under the Romanov dynasty and Peter I (Peter the Great), the Russian Empire became a world power. Ruling from 1682 to 1725, Peter defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War, forcing it to cede West Karelia and Ingria (two regions lost by Russia in the Time of Troubles),[76] Estland, and Livland, securing Russia's access to the sea and sea trade.[77] It was in Ingria that Peter founded a new capital, Saint Petersburg. Peter's reforms brought considerable Western European cultural influences to Russia. Catherine II (Catherine the Great), who ruled from 1762 to 1796, continued the efforts to establish Russia as one of the Great Powers of Europe. In alliance withPrussia and Austria, Russia stood against Napoleon's France and eliminated its rival Poland-Lithuania in a series of partitions, gaining large areas of territory in the west. As a result of its victories in the Russo-Turkish War, by the early 19th century Russia had made significant territorial gains in Transcaucasia. Napoleon's invasion of Russia at the height of his power in 1812 failed miserably as obstinate Russian resistance combined with the bitterly cold Russian winter dealt him a disastrous defeat, in which more than 95% of his invading force perished.[78] The officers in the Napoleonic Wars brought ideas of liberalism back to Russia with them and even attempted to curtail the tsar's powers during the abortive Decembrist revolt of 1825, which was followed by several decades of political repression.
The prevalence of serfdom and the conservative policies of Nicolas I impeded the development of Russia in the mid-nineteenth century. Nicholas's successor Alexander II (1855–1881) enacted significant reforms, including the abolition of serfdom in 1861; these "Great Reforms" spurred industrialization. However, many socio-economic conflicts were aggravated during Alexander III’s reign and under his son, Nicholas II. Harsh conditions in factories created mass support for the revolutionary socialist movement. In January 1905, striking workers peaceably demonstrated for reforms in Saint Petersburg but were fired upon by troops, killing and wounding hundreds. The abject failure of the Tsar's military forces in the initially-popular Russo-Japanese War, and the event known as "Bloody Sunday", ignited the Russian Revolution of 1905. Although the uprising was swiftly put down by the army and although Nicholas II retained much of his power, he was forced to concede major reforms, including granting the freedoms of speech and assembly, the legalization of political parties and the creation of an elected legislative assembly, the Duma; however, the hopes for basic improvements in the lives of industrial workers were unfulfilled. Droughts and famines in Russia tended to occur on a fairly regular basis, with famine occurring every 10–13 years. The 1891-92 faminekilled approximately half-million people.[79] Cholera epidemics claimed more than 2 million lives.[80]
Russia entered World War I in aid of its ally Serbia and fought a war across three fronts while isolated from its allies. Russia did not want war but felt that the only alternative was German domination of Europe. Although the army was far from defeated in 1916, the already-existing public distrust of the regime was deepened by the rising costs of war, casualties (Russia suffered the highest number of both military and civilian deaths of the Entente Powers), and tales of corruption and even treason in high places, leading to the outbreak of the Russian Revolution of 1917. A series of uprisings were organized by workers and peasants throughout the country, as well as by soldiers in the Russian army, who were mainly of peasant origin. Many of the uprisings were organized and led by democratically-elected councils called Soviets. The February Revolution overthrew the Russian monarchy, which was replaced by a shaky coalition of political parties that declared itself the Provisional Government. The abdication marked the end of imperial rule in Russia, and Nicholas and his family were imprisoned and later executed during the Civil War. While initially receiving the support of the Soviets, the Provisional Government proved unable to resolve many problems which had led to the February Revolution. The second revolution, the October Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Provisional Government and created the world’s first socialist state.
[edit]Soviet Russia
Following the October Revolution, a civil war broke out between the new regime and the Socialist Revolutionaries,Mensheviks, and the White movement. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk concluded hostilities with the Central Powers in World War I. Russia lost its Ukrainian, Polish and Baltic territories, and Finland by signing the treaty. The Allied powers launched a military intervention in support of anti-Communist forces and both the Bolsheviks and White movement carried out campaigns of deportations and executions against each other, known respectively as theRed Terror and White Terror. The famine of 1921 claimed 5 million victims.[81] By the end of the Russian Civil War, some 20 million had died and the Russian economy and infrastructure were completely devastated. Following victory in the Civil War, the Russian SFSR together with three other Soviet republics formed the Soviet Union on 30 December 1922. Out of the 15 republics that constituted the Soviet Union, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the largest republic in terms of size and making up over half of the total USSR population, dominated the Soviet Union for its entire 69-year history; the USSR was often referred to, though incorrectly, as "Russia" and its people as "Russians."
Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin consolidated power, becoming a dictator. He launched a command economy, rapid industrialization of the largely rural country, and collectivization of its agriculture. These moves transformed the Soviet Union from an agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse in a short span of time. This transformation came with a heavy price, however. Millions of citizens died as a consequence of his harsh policies (see Gulag, Dekulakization, Population transfers in the Soviet Union, Soviet famine of 1932–1933, and Great Terror).
On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union with the largest and most powerful invasion force in human history,[85] opening the largest theater of the Second World War. Although the German army had considerable success early on, they suffered defeats after reaching the outskirts of Moscow and were dealt their first major defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943.[86] Soviet forces drove through Eastern Europe in 1944–45 andcaptured Berlin in May, 1945. In the conflict, Soviet military and civilian death toll were 10.6 million and 15.9 million respectively,[87] accounting for about a third of all World War II casualties. The Soviet economy and infrastructure suffered massive devastation[88] but the Soviet Union emerged as an acknowledged superpower. The Red Army occupied Eastern Europe after the war, including the eastern half of Germany; Stalin installed socialist governments in these satellite states. Becoming the world's second nuclear weapons power, the USSR established the Warsaw Pact alliance and entered into a struggle for global dominance with the United States, which became known as the Cold War.
After Stalin's death, Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin and eased his repressive policies. He began the process of eliminating the Stalinist political system known as de-Stalinization and abolished the Gulag labor camps, releasing millions of prisoners.[89] The Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 and the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to orbit theEarth aboard the first manned spacecraft, Vostok 1. Tensions with the United States heightened when the two rivals clashed over the deployment of the U.S. Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Soviet missiles in Cuba. Following the ousting of Khrushchev, another period of rule by collective leadership ensued until Leonid Brezhnev established himself in the early 1970s as the pre-eminent figure in Soviet politics. Brezhnev's rule oversaw economic stagnation and the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which drained economic resources and dragged on without achieving meaningful military or political results. Ultimately Soviet forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan in 1989 because of international opposition and a lack of political support from Soviet citizens at home. Tensions rose between the U.S. and Soviet Union in the early 1980s, fueled by anti-Soviet rhetoric in the U.S., the SDI proposal, and the September 1983 downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 by the Soviets. From 1985 onwards, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize the country. Prior to its dissolution, the USSR economy was the second largest in the world.[90]. During its last years, the economy was afflicted by shortages of goods in grocery stores, huge budget deficits and explosive growth in money supply leading to inflation.[91] In August 1991, an unsuccessful military coup against Gorbachev aimed at preserving the Soviet Union instead led to its collapse. In Russia, Boris Yeltsin came to power and declared the end of socialist rule. The USSR splintered into fifteen independent republics and was officially dissolved in December 1991. Boris Yeltsin was elected the President of Russia in June 1991, in the first direct presidential election in Russian history.
[edit]Russian Federation
During and after the disintegration of the USSR when wide-ranging reforms including privatisation and market and trade liberalization were being undertaken,[92] the Russian economy went through a major crisis. This period was characterized by deep contraction of output, with GDP declining by roughly 50 percent between 1990 and the end of 1995 and industrial output declining by over 50 percent.[92][93] In October 1991, Yeltsin announced that Russia would proceed with radical, market-oriented reform along the lines of "shock therapy", as recommended by the United States and International Monetary Fund.[94][95] Price controls were abolished, privatization was started. Millions plunged into poverty. According to the World Bank, whereas 1.5% of the population was living in poverty in the late Soviet era, by mid-1993 between 39% and 49% of the population was living in poverty.[96] Delays in wage payment became a chronic problem with millions being paid months, even years late. Russia took up the responsibility for settling the USSR's external debts, even though its population made up just half of the population of the USSR at the time of its dissolution.[97] The privatization process largely shifted control of enterprises from state agencies to groups of individuals with inside connections in the Government and the mafia. Violent criminal groups often took over state enterprises, clearing the way through assassinations or extortion. Corruption of government officials became an everyday rule of life. Many of the newly rich mobsters and businesspeople took billions in cash and assets outside of the country in an enormous capital flight.[98] The long and wrenching depression was coupled with social decay. Social services collapsed and the birth rate plummeted while the death rate skyrocketed. The early and mid-1990s was marked by extreme lawlessness. Criminal gangs and organized crime flourished and murders and other violent crime spiraled out of control.[99]
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In 1993 a constitutional crisis resulted in the worst civil strife in Moscow since the October Revolution.[101]President Boris Yeltsin dissolved the legislature, a move he acknowledged was unconstitutional.[102] The legislators, who had opposed Yeltsin's moves to consolidate power and his unpopular economic reforms, barricaded themselves inside the White House, impeached Yeltsin, and elected a new President. Major protests against Yeltsin's government resulted in hundreds of deaths. With military support, Yeltsin sent the army to besiege the parliament building and disperse its defenders and used tanks and artillery to eject the legislators.
The 1990s were plagued by armed ethnic conflicts in the North Caucasus. Such conflicts took a form of separatist Islamist insurrections against federal power, or of ethnic/clan conflicts between local groups. Since the Chechen separatists declared independence in the early 1990s, an intermittent guerrilla war (First Chechen War, Second Chechen War) has been fought between disparate Chechen rebel groups and the Russian military. Terrorist attacks against civilians carried out by Chechen separatists, most notably theMoscow theater hostage crisis and Beslan school siege, caused hundreds of deaths and drew worldwide attention. High budget deficits and the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis caused the financial crisis of 1998[103] and resulted in further GDP decline.[92] On 31 December 1999 Boris Yeltsin resigned from the presidency, handing the post to the recently appointed prime minister,Vladimir Putin, who then won the 2000 election. Putin won popularity for suppressing the Chechen insurgency, although sporadic violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus. High oil prices and initially weak currency followed by increasing domestic demand, consumption and investments has helped the economy grow for nine straight years, alleviating the standard of living and increasing Russia's clout on the world stage.[5] While many reforms made during the Putin administration have been generally criticized by Western nations as un-democratic,[104]Putin's leadership over the return of order, stability and progress has won him widespread popularity in Russia.[105] On March 7, 2008, Dmitry Medvedev was elected President of Russia, whilst Putin became Prime Minister.
[edit]Government and politics
According to the Constitution, which was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993 following the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, Russia is a federation and formally a semi-presidential republic, wherein the President is the head of state[106] and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Russian Federation is fundamentally structured as a representative democracy. Executive power is exercised by the government.[107] Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Federal Assembly.[108] The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which serves as the country's supreme legal document and as asocial contract for the people of the Russian Federation.
The federal government is composed of three branches:
- Legislative: The bicameral Federal Assembly, made up of the State Duma and the Federation Counciladopts federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has power ofimpeachment, by which it can remove the President.
- Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
- Judiciary: The Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Arbitration and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president, interpret laws and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional.
According to the Constitution, constitutional justice in the court is based on the equality of all citizens,[109]judges are independent and subject only to the law,[110] trials are to be open and the accused is guaranteed a defense.[111] Since 1996, Russia has instituted a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia, although capital punishment has not been abolished by law.
The president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term[112] (eligible for a second term but constitutionally barred for a third consecutive term);[113] election last held 2 March 2008. Ministries of the government are composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Prime Minister (whereas the appointment of the latter requires the consent of the State Duma). The national legislature is the Federal Assembly, which consists of two chambers; the 450-member State Duma[114] and the 176-member Federation Council. Leading political parties in Russia include United Russia, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and Fair Russia.
[edit]Human rights
Leading international democracy and human rights organizations consider Russia to be an undemocratic nation, allowing few or no political rights and civil liberties to its citizens.[115][116][117]. International pro-democracy organization Freedom House ranks Russia as 'not free', citing 'carefully engineered elections' and a complete 'absence' of debate.[118]
Amnesty International accuse Russia of committing wide ranging human rights abuses including granting impunity for murderers of human rights activists, imprisoning political dissidents and operating a system of arbitrary arrest.[119] Human Rights Watch claim Russia commits grave human rights violations in Chechnya and allows the systematic abuse of migrant workers.[120]
Freedom of press in Russia is considered amongst the worst in the world by press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders and is ranked 141st in the world for press freedom in their annual survey. The Russian Authorities 'black list' figures that are critical of the government, practice 'official harassment', and 'gag' potential dissidents.[121]
[edit]Subdivisions
- Federal subjects
The Russian Federation comprises 83 federal subjects.[122] These subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council.[123] However, they differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy.
- 46 oblasts (provinces): most common type of federal subjects, with federally appointed governor and locally elected legislature.
- 21 republics: nominally autonomous; each has its own constitution, president, and parliament. Republics are allowed to establish their own official language alongside Russian but are represented by the federal government in international affairs. Republics are meant to be home to specific ethnic minorities.
- Nine krais (territories): essentially the same as oblasts. The "territory" designation is historic, originally given to frontier regions and later also to administrative divisions that comprised autonomous okrugs or autonomous oblasts.
- Four autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts): originally autonomous entities within oblasts and krais created for ethnic minorities, their status was elevated to that of federal subjects in the 1990s. With the exception of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, all autonomous okrugs are still administratively subordinated to a krai or an oblast of which they are a part.
- One autonomous oblast (the Jewish Autonomous Oblast): originally autonomous oblasts were administrative units subordinated to krais. In 1990, all of them except the Jewish AO were elevated in status to that of a republic.
- Two federal cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg): major cities that function as separate regions.
- Federal districts and economic regions
Federal subjects are grouped into seven federal districts, each administered by an envoy appointed by the President of Russia.[124] Unlike the federal subjects, the federal districts are not a subnational level of government, but are a level of administration of the federal government. Federal districts' envoys serve as liaisons between the federal subjects and the federal government and are primarily responsible for overseeing the compliance of the federal subjects with the federal laws.
[edit]Foreign relations and military
The Russian Federation is recognized in international law as continuing the legal personality of the former Soviet Union.[27] Russia continues to implement the international commitments of the USSR, and has assumed the USSR's permanent seat on the UN Security Council, membership in other international organizations, the rights and obligations under international treaties and property and debts. Russia has a multifaceted foreign policy. As of July, 2009, it maintains diplomatic relations with 173 countries and has 142 embassies.[125] Russia's foreign policy is determined by the President and implemented by theMinistry of Foreign Affairs.[126]
As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia plays a major role in maintaining international peace and security, and plays a major role in resolving international conflicts by participating in the Quartet on the Middle East, the Six-party talks with North Korea, promoting the resolution of the Kosovo conflict and resolving nuclear proliferation issues. Russia is a member of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, the Council of Europe, OSCE and APEC. Russia usually takes a leading role in regional organizations such as the CIS, EurAsEC, CSTO, and the SCO. Former President Vladimir Putin had advocated a strategic partnership with close integration in various dimensions including establishment of four common spaces between Russia and the EU.[127] Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has developed a friendlier, albeit volatile relationship with NATO. The NATO-Russia Council was established in 2002 to allow the 26 Allies and Russia to work together as equal partners to pursue opportunities for joint collaboration.[128]
Russia assumed control of Soviet assets abroad and most of the Soviet Union's production facilities and defense industries are located in the country.[129] The Russian military is divided into the Ground Forces,Navy, and Air Force. There are also three independent arms of service: Strategic Rocket Forces, Military Space Forces, and the Airborne Troops. In 2006, the military had 1.037 million personnel on active duty.[130]
Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. It has the second largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines and is the only country apart from the U.S. with a modern strategic bomber force.[30]The country has a large and fully indigenous arms industry, producing all of its own military equipment. Russia is the world's top supplier of weapons, a spot it has held since 2001, accounting for around 30% of worldwide weapons sales[131] and exporting weapons to about 80 countries.[132] Following the Soviet practice, it was mandatory before 2007 for all male citizens aged 18–27 to be drafted for two years' Armed Forces service. Various problems associated with this, such as dedovschina (institutionalised physical and psychological abuse), explain why the armed forces have reduced the conscription term first to 18 months in 2007 and then to 12 since 2008, and are planning to increase the proportion of contract servicemen to 70% of the armed forces by 2010.[5] Defense expenditure has quadrupled over the past six years.[133] Official government military spending for 2008 is $40 billion, making it the eighth largest in the world,[134] though various sources, including US intelligence,[135] and the International Institute for Strategic Studies,[130] have estimated Russia’s military expenditures to be considerably higher.[136] Currently, the military is undergoing a major equipment upgrade with about $200 billion on procurement of military equipment between 2006 and 2015.[137]
Major reforms to improve the organization and the efficiency of the military are currently ongoing, headed by current Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov.[138] The main idea behind his reforms is the transformation from a mass mobilization army to a small force of contract soldiers.[139]Serdyukov has launched plans to reduce the personnel in the central administration by 30%, which would lead to the liquidation of a significant number of positions filled by generals and colonels.[138] He is also demanding drastic cuts in Russia's officer corps. Currently there is an officer to every two and a half men. After the reform there should be just one to every 15, more similar to western armies. The reform would mean losing 200,000 jobs, and has been met with fierce political opposition by the "old guard."[140] Because of the pressure, the deadline for implementing the cuts has been put back from 2012 to 2016.[140] Addressing acute and long-standing issues such as the ineffectiveness of Russia’s defense industrial and procurement policies has also been one of Serdyukov's chief aims.[138]
[edit]Economy
The economic crisis that struck all post-Soviet countries in the 1990s was nearly twice as intense as theGreat Depression in the countries of Western Europe and the United States in the 1930s.[141][142] Even before the financial crisis of 1998, Russia's GDP was half of what it had been in the early 1990s.[142] Since the turn of the century, rising oil prices, increased foreign investment, higher domestic consumption and greater political stability have bolstered economic growth in Russia. The country ended 2007 with its ninth straight year of growth, averaging 7% annually since the financial crisis of 1998. In 2007, Russia's GDP was $2.076 trillion (est. PPP), the 6th largest in the world, with GDP growing 8.1% from the previous year. Growth was primarily driven by non-traded services and goods for the domestic market, as opposed to oil or mineral extraction and exports.[5] The average salary in Russia was $640 per month in early 2008, up from $80 in 2000.[143] Approximately 14% of Russians lived below the national poverty line in 2007,[144] significantly down from 40% in 1998 at the worst of the post-Soviet collapse.[96] Unemployment in Russia was at 6% in 2007, down from about 12.4% in 1999.[145][146]
Russia has the world's largest natural gas reserves, the second largestcoal reserves and the eighth largest oil reserves. It is the world's leading natural gas exporter and the second leading oil exporter. Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80% of Russian exports abroad.[5] Since 2003, however, exports of natural resources started decreasing in economic importance as the internal market strengthened considerably. Despite higher energy prices, oil and gas only contribute to 5.7% of Russia's GDP and the government predicts this will drop to 3.7% by 2011.[147] Russia is also considered well ahead of most other resource-rich countries in its economic development, with a long tradition of education, science, and industry.[148] The country has morehigher education graduates than any other country in Europe.[149]
A simpler, more streamlined tax code adopted in 2001 reduced the tax burden on people, and dramatically increased state revenue.[150] Russia has a flat personal income tax rate of 13 percent. This ranks it as the country with the second most attractive personal tax system for single managers in the world after the United Arab Emirates, according to a 2007 survey by investment services firm Mercer Human Resource Consulting.[151][152] The federal budget has run surpluses since 2001 and ended 2007 with a surplus of 6% of GDP. Over the past several years, Russia has used oil revenues from its Stabilization Fund of the Russian Federation to prepay all Soviet-era sovereign debt to Paris Clubcreditors and the IMF. Oil export earnings have allowed Russia to increase its foreign reserves from $12 billion in 1999 to $597.3 billion on 1 August 2008, the third largest reserves in the world.[153] The country has also been able to substantially reduce its formerly massive foreign debt.[154]
The economic development of the country though has been uneven geographically with the Moscow region contributing a disproportionately high amount of the country's GDP.[156] Much of Russia, especially indigenous and rural communities in Siberia, lags significantly behind. Nevertheless, the middle class has grown from just 8 million persons in 2000 to 55 million persons in 2006.[157] Russia is home to the largest number of billionaires in the world after the United States, gaining 50 billionaires in 2007 for a total of 110.[158]
Over the last five years, fixed capital investments have averaged real gains greater than 10% per year and personal incomes have achieved real gains more than 12% per year. During this time, poverty has declined steadily and the middle class has continued to expand. Russia has also improved its international financial position since the 1998 financial crisis.[5] A principal factor in Russia's growth has been the combination of strong growth in productivity, real wages, and consumption.[159] Despite the country's strong economic performance since 1999, however, the World Bank lists several challenges facing the Russian economy including diversifying the economy, encouraging the growth of small and medium enterprises, building human capital and improving corporate governance.[40] Inflation grew to about 12% by the end of 2007, up from 9% in 2006. The upward trend continued in the first quarter of 2008, driven largely by rising food costs.[5][144] Infrastructure, ageing and inadequate after years of being neglected, is considered to be a bottleneck to economic growth.[160] The government has said $1 trillion will be invested in infrastructure by 2020.[161]
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