P.M. BRIEFING : Soviet Shelves Need $12 Billion
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PARIS — The Soviet Union will need at least $12 billion in aid to fill empty store shelves with imports and get a free market started, President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s personal economic adviser said in an interview published today.
“You cannot begin the transition to the market (economy) with empty shops. . . . To start up the market, we need a massive injection of all sorts of consumer goods,” Nikolai Petrakov told the French business daily Tribune de l’Expansion.
He said that foreign companies, banks and governments have already offered such credits, and he estimated that “a minimum $10 billion to $12 billion” will be needed.
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