The debt of foreign countries to Russia increased last year mainly due to countries such as Bangladesh, India and Egypt, Capital Lab partner Evgeny Shatov told Izvestia on December 15. According to him, the increase in credit mainly occurs through two directions: investment projects in foreign countries or financing of foreign economic supplies.
“That is, for the most part, this is not the provision of hard money, but the implementation of large construction projects or investment projects, when Russian companies supply goods to other countries, provide services or perform work in advance,” Shatov explained.
The expert clarified that after the imposition of sanctions by the West, Russia is actively reorienting its foreign economic policy towards the South Asian region, where there is good growth potential. He emphasized that this is a huge market, where there are countries with fast-growing economies, so Moscow is trying to expand the range of Russian exports in these countries and strengthen its presence in the region.
“In turn, this leads to an increase in debt on the part of these countries to Russia. Given the fact that sanctions from the West are only getting worse, Russia will continue to increase cooperation with the countries of South Asia, increasing the volume of lending to them. According to the government, in 2023 Russia will issue 431.6 billion rubles in interstate financial and export loans from the federal budget, and in 2024 the issuance is planned at 468.5 billion rubles ($5.2 billion),” added Shatov.
Earlier that day it was reported that, according to the World Bank, the debt of residents of foreign countries to Russia last year increased by 8.7%, reaching $28.9 billion. At the same time, as of the end of 2022, 37 countries had outstanding debt to Russian creditors.
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