MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin urged his government on Thursday to aim for higher growth to exploit Russia's potential and close the gap with Western countries, but offered no specific proposals on how to achieve this.

Putin put the focus firmly on economic development in his annual "state of the nation" address to parliament, brushing off warnings from his ministers that pushing growth too quickly could destabilise the country.

He said Russians needed concrete proof that their lives were improving and blasted ministers for settling for modest growth targets and failing to make use of the country's potential.

"Nobody is going to help us in this matter. To secure our place in the economic sun, we have to fight by ourselves," he told 1,000 dignitaries in the Kremlin.

"For Russia to become a fully-fledged member of the world community and a tough competitor, the economy must grow at the fastest possible rate. Otherwise we will lose out and our possibilities in world politics and the economy will narrow."

Kremlin adviser Andrei Illarionov has led calls for faster growth, saying he wants annual increases of eight percent annual growth -- against the 2001 forecast of five percent. Growth slowed last year after posting a post-Soviet record 9.0 percent in 2000.

Putin decried the modest forecasts for not meeting growing public expectations.

"Such a low assessment of Russia's possibilities is not to our advantage. It does not amount to an active policy and the use of measures aimed to use the potential of the Russian economy, our entrepreneurs and scientific and technical progress," Putin said.

"We must create conditions so that Russians can earn money for their own benefit and invest in their own country."

MINISTERS WARN AGAINST AMBITIOUS PLANS

But Putin offered no plan on boosting growth in response to warnings from ministers that too ambitious a programme could upset stability in a country where average monthly wages remain below $100, especially outside large cities.

In the week preceding the event, he signalled his discontent by giving his government a dressing down for failing to show "ambition" in pursuing growth targets.

On the eve of the address, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref, who pilots economic policy, expressed caution in remarks to reporters in Paris.

"It's not really possible to change things without a crisis," he said. "These things take time."

Putin pointed to "modest" achievements in the past year, including introduction of a low flat-rate income tax, reduced inflation and higher personal incomes.

He also recalled plans for quick approval of legislation on farm land sales, banking reforms and a programme to boost the small business sector.

With his poll ratings still at 70 percent, there is little challenge to Putin's authority ahead of parliamentary elections next year and a presidential poll in 2004.

But television last week showed a protest in southern Russia against moves to end rent subsidies and the Communist Party, now firmly in the opposition, leads surveys among parliamentary groups with more than 30 percent support.

The president made a brief reference to his pro-Western foreign policy, saying Russia faced the same threats to global security cited by the United States in its war on terrorism.

He also spoke briefly of military reform, but offered no new specific proposals on moving towards a professional army or reducing the length of time of compulsory military service.