A separate topic this Saturday is the first and rather peculiar results of another session of the International Monetary Fund, which was attended in Washington by the heads of the Russian Ministry of Finance and Central Bank. They were asked about rumors of the new sanctions against Russian State Banks. Anton Siluanov answered this with that Moscow has a Plan B for such a case. "We can provide all clients with both rubles and dollars if necessary".
Our staff reporter Alexander Khristenko has the details.
"Global challenges — global solutions" is the key-note of the IMF spring meeting. If the first goes without doubts — there are enough threats to the development of the global financial system, finding solutions seems problematic, which is even more aggravated by the actions of the host — the United States.
Trade wars, first of all, between Washington and Beijing, protectionism, and sanctions hinder global development. It's expected to be the lowest in the decade — 3.3%. The expected Brexit has its own additional negative impact. But the issue of new American sanctions is of little importance, said First Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, because Russia has amassed great reserves, the budget has a surplus, and the country doesn't need any loans. In short, they're prepared for any possible scenario.
Anton Siluanov: "We're creating an economy that's dependent only on itself. Indeed, we are open to foreign investment, but since the situation dictates the rules, we don't have any other options. We're going to create more auspicious conditions than how it was before in terms of currency control, which is now being seriously liberalized, in terms of repealing outdated and inactive regulations that hinder business, in terms of creating new preferential tax treatment for the self-employed and small businesses. Our investors can clearly see our efforts".
Siluanov had a separate meeting with foreign investors in Washington. They have a positive approach and want to invest in Russia. Another proof of this was the Ministry of Finance placing record bonds in March for $1.42 billion. Investors were ready to buy even more than that. The main three rating agencies have raised Russia's rating to "investment-grade", including most conservative Standard & Poor's. GDP growth is expected to reach 1.6%.
Elvira Nabiullina, who was recognized by the IMF as the best head of any central bank in the world, intends to ensure that inflation will be no higher than 4%.
Elvira Nabiullina: "We can see that the VAT increase had a moderate effect on inflation. Our policy is aimed at returning the inflation rate back to 4% and gaining a persistently low inflation rate because it's important for people. The rise in prices for goods and services concerns everyone. It's important for us that it doesn't grow too fast".
Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, said that the macroeconomic situation in Russia is healthy, which can't be applied to the situation to the fund itself. This was the 15th attempt to reform the IMF — the goal is to redistribute the quotas in a way so that developing countries would have more weight. The United States and some European countries harshly opposed that.
That's why the IMF and the dollar are more frequently replaced by Asian and Eurasian financial centers and settlements in national currencies. The share of the latter is growing in Russia's trade with its partners.
Alexander Khristenko, Nikolay Koskin, Saturday Vesti, Washington, the United States.
