Siluanov called it fair to pay the state debt in rubles before the unfreezing of gold and foreign exchange reserves – Rosbalt

Russia will pay the public debt in rubles until Western countries unfreeze their gold and foreign exchange reserves. About this in the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” on the channel “Russia 1” said the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation Anton Siluanov.

“It seems to me that it is absolutely fair when we say that we do not refuse to fulfill state obligations, we will pay them in rubles until the moment when our gold and foreign exchange reserves are unfrozen,” he said.

Siluanov noted that “the debts that we have to pay to countries that are unfriendly to the Russian Federation and have made such restrictions on the use of gold and foreign exchange reserves – it is to these countries that we will pay debts in ruble terms.”

Earlier, the Fitch International Rating Agency downgraded Russia’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) in foreign currency from ‘B’ to ‘C’, which indicates high risks of sovereign default.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva considers Russia’s possible default due to sanctions imposed against the background of the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine. She clarified that the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia have driven the country into recession.

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that there are no conditions for a default in Russia unless they are created artificially. He recalled the statements of the heads of Russia’s financial departments about the readiness and availability of the necessary margin of safety to pay off all external debts in rubles. According to Peskov, “in fact, as such, there are no conditions for a default, unless they are created and imputed to us artificially.”