Russia’s foreign debt in 2022 fell to $380.5 billion, the lowest level in the last 15 years. Online The central bank.
“The foreign debt of the Russian Federation has decreased due to the repayment of loans, including within the framework of direct investment relations, and the reduction of debt on government bonds,” the regulator said.
As of January 1, 2023, the external debt was $380.5 billion, while this figure decreased by $101.8 billion (minus 21.1%) last year. In total debt, most are long-term liabilities ($311.35 billion), the rest are short-term ($69.19 billion).
46.1 billion dollars of debt of state institutions, 93.5 billion dollars of the Central Bank and credit institutions, the majority of the debt to foreign creditors (241 billion dollars) belongs to other sectors of the economy.
The net international investment position of the Russian Federation increased from $485 billion to $770.4 billion at the end of 2022.
“The external portion of public debt fell due to sanctions last year, and Russia can no longer borrow from foreign markets. Theoretically, it can borrow from friendly country markets, but these are not markets where you will especially borrow money,” he said. speaks Economist Denis Raksha is CEO of Neocon specialist consulting firm.
The expert explained that loans from creditors from unfriendly countries continue to be paid, albeit to blocked accounts, but “the amount of debt still decreases”.
In the fall, the Central Bank reported that foreign debt has decreased by $45 billion since the beginning of the year. As of October 1, external debt was $436.8 billion (minus 9.4% in nine months). The regulator later emphasized that the reduction in external debt in a number of sectors was largely due to the repayment of loan obligations to non-residents.
Very little public debt
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov previously described this as an advantage, saying the country’s domestic and foreign public debt is only 15.1% of GDP.
“This is our advantage, which gives us the opportunity to maneuver in terms of operations in the financial market and to finance borrowing and budget expenditures in the future,” the head of the Ministry of Finance said in an interview with RT.
For comparison, Japan’s public debt amounted to 256 percent of GDP, US public debt – 148% of GDP, and Canada’s public debt – 134% of GDP. With data According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Russia’s score is even below Chile and Luxembourg.
The level of public debt of the Russian Federation remained relatively low compared to GDP for quite some time.
From the budget of the Russian Federation for the next three years, as follows, by the end of 2023 the country’s total debt should increase to 25,369 trillion rubles in 2024, 27,679 trillion rubles, 29.94 trillion in 2025. ruble. The share of domestic debt will be 81.6 percent this year, 82.4 percent next year and 83.5 percent in 2025.
Liabilities in rubles
The sanctions made it much more difficult to find funding internationally, forcing the Ministry of Finance to borrow from the domestic market. It is also safer in terms of possible secondary sanctions.
In the fourth quarter of last year, the Ministry of Finance placed OFZs for 3.14 trillion rubles. As the main instrument, the department uses classic OFZs with fixed coupons.
Source: Gazeta
Ben Stock is a business analyst and writer for “Social Bites”. He offers insightful articles on the latest business news and developments, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the business world.