The Russia Journal :: The Russia Journal :: Business || Articles Russia set to avoid ‘world losers’ club’
Prime-TASS
Russia may be facing macroeconomic problems due to various external and domestic factors but analysts and officials agree that despite a worsening macroeconomic situation, Russia is unlikely to join the world club of economic losers next year. The government is committed to keeping the country solvent and paying its foreign debts on time without refinancing.
Next year Russia is expected to pay $10 billion in principal foreign debt and $7 billion interest on foreign debt.
Russia’s total sovereign foreign debt, including the debt inherited from the Soviet Union, is projected to decline to $123.4 billion by the end of 2003, according to the latest government forecast. As of April 1, the sovereign foreign debt was at $131.9 billion.
"A very solid balance of payments suggests that servicing the major debt obligations should not pose a problem (in 2003)," Paul Thomsen, the Moscow representative of the International Monetary Fund, said last week, adding that the Russian government’s macroeconomic forecast for 2002 and 2003 was realistic.
A senior government source said last week that besides using the budget funds and the special financial reserve to pay the foreign debt, the government was planning to use privatization revenues worth $1.5 billion and sell precious metals and stones from state reserves worth over $1 billion.
The source said the financial reserve, which is to be used to pay foreign debt, was to reach 178.3 billion rubles by the end of this year.
Russian officials initially planned to borrow up to $1.5 billion through eurobonds next year to pay the debt, but, under pressure from President Vladimir Putin, these plans were apparently shelved.
The CBR’s foreign exchange and gold reserves stood at $43.5 billion as of August 2, up from $36.5 billion at the start of this year.
[16 Aug 2002]
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