Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday held a question-and-answer session with the public, his first as the premier and leader of the ruling United Russia party.

During the over-three-hour live program, Putin answered a barrage of questions ranging from the ongoing global financial crisis to the country's foreign policies.

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin answers questions during his annual question-and-answer session with the Russian people in Moscow, December 4, 2008. [Xinhua/Reuters]

Economic performance "good"

Opening the meeting broadcast live on state television, Putin said Russia's economic performance in 2008 is "good" despite the global financial meltdown.

"In general, the results for the year are good, despite the negative impact of the global financial crisis on the Russian economy," he said.

The government previously had expected the GDP to grow 7.5 percent in 2008, but an overall growth rate of 6.8-6.9 percent is still good, Putin said.

The premier also forecast that Russia's inflation would be 13 percent this year.

The high inflation rate is partly because of the global financial crisis and the fact that the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry were forced to inject a large amount of liquidity into the economy, he said.

Putin believes that the country, with the third largest gold and foreign currency reserves in the world, has every chance of living through the hard times with minimum losses for the economy and citizens.

However, he said the nation should brace itself for a difficult period. "We must be prepared morally, organizationally, financially and even politically."