Soviet Union: Economy of the Soviet Union

A file containing documents relating to the Soviet economy. Subjects covered in the file include poor economic output in the first quarter of 1982; a newspaper article criticising the neglect of scientific and technical advances, as well as the inefficiency of management; a shortage of foreign currency affecting British firms attending trade exhibitions; and large increases in Soviet imports of food, and particularly grain. Other subjects discussed in the file include efforts to produce a computer model of the Soviet economy; lower economic growth in Russia than in the Soviet Union as a whole; and evidence of food shortages in shopping areas of Moscow. Documents in the file include monthly statistics for Soviet industrial output for 1981 and the first eight months of 1982; and minutes of a meeting between British officials and two members of staff of the Soviet state planning committee Gosplan.