Russia is able to pay its foreign debts: Bank of Russia

New Delhi: Russia is able to pay its foreign debts, Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina said at a press conference on Friday.

“From the point of view of financial resources, we have the possibility and the ability. We also have the desire to pay, and the Finance Ministry has shown all options. Typically, problems with paying sovereign obligations are caused by budgetary issues. We don’t have such issues. Once again, we have all of the resources we need to pay off our debts,” she said.

According to Nabiullina, Russia’s issues stem from technical challenges in repaying sovereign debt in foreign currency, as well as restrictions on international banking operations. She stressed that the state’s obligations to Russian citizens and Russian residents who purchased federal loan bonds are unaffected by this situation.

In 2020, the national debt of Russia amounted to around 280.12 billion U.S. dollars. The statistic shows the national debt in Russia from 2017 to 2021 in relation to the gross domestic product (GDP), with projections up until 2027. In 2021, the national debt of Russia amounted to about 17.02 percent of gross domestic product.

(Vinayak)