Yeltsin Vows to Begin Broad Economic Reform; State Controls on Prices to Be Lifted
Russian republic President Boris Yeltsin, moving to reassert his authority after nearly 100 days in office, promised today to push ahead with far-reaching economic reforms including the liberalization of virtually all prices and progress toward a separate Russian currency.</br></br>Speaking in an interview with Russian television, Yeltsin also promised to put an end to political squabbling among his closest aides by forming a new "government of popular confidence" in the next few days. He said an atmosphere of near-crisis had developed during his two-week Black Sea vacation because of differences about the future direction of Russia and the course of economic reform.</br></br>"People will suffer, but we have to go through with this," said Yeltsin, announcing that state controls on prices would be lifted soon in order to allow them to rise to free-market rates.</br></br>A former Communist Party bureaucrat with only a limited grasp of capitalist economics, Yeltsin had earlier shown little enthusiasm for implementing the painful measures associated with the transition to a market economy. But he has evidently concluded that short-term sacrifices will be necessary to rescue Russia from its deepening economic crisis and give people some long-term perspective of a better life.</br></br>Yeltsin, 60, who in June became the first popularly elected leader in Russia's 1,000-year history, has been strangely passive since he played the key role in defeating a coup attempt by hard-line Communists in August. His actions led to criticism that his character and political talents are more suited to the role of leader of the opposition than president of a huge country with vast problems.