Report: RDIF head: Russia’s state debt at 20-25% of GDP reasonable

MOSCOW, Jul 2 (PRIME) -- The idea to raise Russia’s debt to 20-25% of gross domestic product (GDP) is reasonable, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said in an interview with NTV television channel on Monday.

“Our state debt is around 15% of GDP. Many countries have debt of 200-300% of GDP. We were radically conservative in our macroeconomic policy and it used to be right. But now there is a need for investment … an increase of the state debt to 20-25% of GDP is absolutely reasonable. The point is that the money must be invested effectively,” he said.

He added that the yield from the investment projects may help repay the debt and reduce it soon.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in May that his ministry plans to borrow for investment. He assessed Russia’s current debt at 6-10% of GDP and was against an increase to 20-30% of GDP.

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