Cbanker: US sanctions not to change Russian economy much

MOSCOW, Sep 25 (PRIME) -- The possible U.S. sanctions against the Russian financial system will not significantly change the country’s economy, and the central bank is ready for a wide range of scenarios, Andrei Lipin, deputy director of the regulator’s monetary policy department, said at a roundtable meeting Tuesday.

“We do not see any serious changes, which can drastically change the picture (of the Russian economy in case of introduction of new sanctions),” Lipin said, adding he was speaking about a ban to offer new OFZ government bonds and other scenarios discussed by the U.S.

“Some more serious sanctions – we will look here how they will be implemented. We can now assume a lot what can happen. But the central bank calculates many risky scenarios, that’s why we are ready for a quite wide circle of consequences,” he said.

In August, U.S. anti-Russian sanctions over Moscow’s alleged involvement in the March poisoning of the Skripal family in the U.K. came into force. The second package of sanctions that can affect the domestic state banks may be introduced in November.

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