Central Bank vice-president Alexei Zabotkin denied the regulator’s links to global finance “behind the scenes” on Channel One’s “Easy Money” podcast. Part of the conversation leads RIA Novosti.
“The decision on monetary policy at the Central Bank is taken by the Board of Directors of the Central Bank. Regular meetings dedicated to the rate are held eight times a year. Zabotkin answered the presenter’s question when asked to comment on the myth that the Central Bank is obeying global finance “behind the scenes” and carrying out its “orders”.
According to Zabotkin, this theory emerged in the 1990s when Russia “had hyperinflation, large budget deficits. And the International Monetary Fund has been actively involved in helping ensure macroeconomic stability.” The IMF credited the Russian side with certain conditions, but “we repaid all our loans, we repaid all IMF loans in 2002, and we haven’t had any obligations since.”
In addition, Zabotkin denied the Central Bank’s claim that with a key rate of 5%, loans in the country would be much cheaper. According to him, under such monetary conditions, there can be much higher inflation, which greatly affects the value of money in the economy.
“It is an illusion that at 5% loans will be much cheaper, because at 5% there will likely be much higher inflation and inflationary expectations. And loan rates do not depend on the key rate, the key rate affects them of course, but not directly on it. <…> “The longer the maturity, the more the rates depend on future inflation, future inflation expectations, rather than our base rate.”
IMF agents in Russia
There is a widespread but unconfirmed hypothesis that Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina is an agent of the International Monetary Fund, allegedly working in the interests of the Western financial elite and the US Federal Reserve System. Various facts from his biography are given as arguments.
Thus, the main premise of this conspiracy theory is the appointment of Nabiullina to the post of Deputy Governor from Russia at the International Monetary Fund in 2013. She was appointed to this post by Russian President Vladimir Putin she. This position is currently held by the head of the Central Bank. The director is Anton Siluanov, head of the Ministry of Finance of Russia. In connection with this appointment, Nabiullina began to be called an “IMF officer” and allegedly working in the interests of Western countries.
Economist Mikhail Khazin in a conversation with Tsargrad TV channel in 2021 declaration:
“The Bank of Russia is a special, remote division of the IMF. <…> It fulfills two tasks: to ensure the free export of capital at all costs and to prevent investments in the Russian economy in rubles. Needless to say, they don’t understand anything about economics. They may not understand anything in economics, macroeconomic policy, but in terms of the implementation of the tasks assigned to them. [ЦБ и Минфином] They are perfectly effective under the leadership of the IMF. From the point of view of Soviet legislation, Siluanov is an enemy of the people. <…> Nabiullina, on the other hand, does not hide that she is an IMF officer and does not care at all about what is happening in our country.”
In addition, in January 2023, the economist, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Glazyev published an article on his Telegram channel, accusing the leadership of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation of treason and financing Ukraine’s defense spending through the West. financial system. later he deleted broadcasting.
Economist Valentin Katasonov agrees. According to him, “Nabiullina plays into the hands of the United States.” Some scholars view Katasonov as a conspiracy theorist, as he calls the COVID vaccine “chipping” and the digital economy “digital slavery.”
Conspiracy theorists also claim that in 2007 Nabiullina graduated or completed a retraining program at Yale University in the United States. She allegedly passed the IVLP (International Visitor Leadership Program) leadership program she. But it is known for certain that Nabiullina graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University and received a master’s degree there.
The freezing of the Central Bank’s assets after the launch of a special operation in Ukraine in 2022 also worked for conspiracy theorists. The freezing of only half of the assets did not convince the conspiracy advocates. Nor had they been convinced by Western politicians’ statements that they could not find “frozen” funding.