MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed another year of Russian economic growth after a previous period of stagnation.

Putin said at an annual news conference summing up the results of the year that Russia's gross domestic product is set to grow by 1.8 percent this year, while industrial output has grown faster at 3 percent.

The Russian president noted Thursday that the nation's hard currency reserves have increased from $432 billion at the start of the year to $464 billion now.

The positive statistics follow a difficult period in recent years when Russia's economy has suffered a combined blow of low oil prices and Western sanctions.

Russia's economy registered 1.5-percent growth last year following the two-year stagnation.

Putin pledged that the government will create incentives to speed up growth.