Page 39 - RUSRptAug18

6.2 Debt
Russia - Gross external debt 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 3Q 2017
Budget: gross debt (LC bn)
5,343 6,520 7,548 10,299 10,952 11,110 11,854
Budget: gross debt (% GDP)
10.9 11.8 13.1 15.6 15.9 12.9 12.6
source: Rosstat
On 1 April 2018 Russia's gross foreign debt stood at $524.9bn , according to preliminary estimates from the CBR. This is just 0.6% higher than the volume of debt on 1 April 2017 and is just 14% above the level of Russia's international reserves. Public debt amounted to $60.1bn on 1 April 2018, an increase of 31% y/y. However, during the same period, the external debt of Russian commercial banks decreased by 12% y/y to $105.9bn, while the debt of the non-financial sector remained almost unchanged (+0.2% y/y) at $343bn.
7.0 FX
RUSSIA -FX
1Q16
2Q16
3Q16
4Q16
1Q17
2Q17
3Q17
4Q17
Currency (units per EUR) (eop)
76.54
71.21
70.88
63.81
60.60
67.50
68.45
68.87
Currency (units per USD) (eop)
67.61
64.26
63.16
60.66
56.38
59.09
58.02
57.60
Currency (units per EUR) (average)
82.32
74.38
72.15
68.13
63.27
62.88
69.22
68.81
Currency (units per USD) (average)
74.59
65.88
64.62
63.07
58.82
57.14
59.00
58.41
The Ministry of Finance will reduce purchases of foreign currency. The ministry will spend circa RUB348bn on the purchase of foreign currency in the domestic market in July-early August, the ministry said.
In July, the Finance Ministry expects to receive RUB387bn of oil revenues, while as of June the actual oil and gas revenues turned out to be lower than those forecasted by RUB39.6bn.
As a result in the period from June 6 to August 6, the Ministry of Finance will send RUB347.7bn for the purchase of currency, or about RUB15.8bn daily for these purposes.
Prior to this, from June 7 to July 5, the Ministry of Finance planned to buy record amounts of currency at RUB380bn – 19bn a day -- the highest in the history of interventions. In July, purchases will decrease in general by 8%, and daily interventions by 17%.
The Ministry of Finance started buying currency on the domestic market as part of the budget rule in February 2017 to stabilize the ruble exchange rate and reduce the dependence of the Russian economy on hydrocarbons.
The CBR buys currency in the proportions of: 45% of dollars, 45% of euros, and 10% of pounds. The money goes to replenish the National Welfare Fund
39 RUSSIA Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com