Finance minister: Russia to borrow abroad despite all restraints

MOSCOW, Mar 17 (PRIME) -- Russia will do all planned external borrowing despite any restrictions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Thursday at a lecture in Moscow’s Financial University.

Russia’s 2016 state budget envisages borrowing up to U.S. $3 billon abroad. In February, the Finance Ministry sent requests to 25 foreign banks and three national ones to organize the placement of Eurobonds in 2016. On Monday, the Financial Times reported citing sources that Brussels urged European banks to steer clear of the bond. Previously, a similar warning was sent to U.S. banks by the country’s authorities.

“We will still enter the market for external borrowings despite restrictions, we will study a possible date for that. But we will carry out our planned measures of finding sources to cover budget deficit,” he said.

The U.S. and E.U. hurt their investors as much as Russia by barring them from the Eurobonds. “The European financial players, bankers would very much like to invest money from negative interest rates in good interest rates, in the Russian economy, in Russian bonds,” he said.

“Our colleagues somehow think that they hurt only Russia when they impose these sanctions. Nothing of the kind. They hurt their own investors. And it is yet to be seen who is hurt more.”

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