Russia's foreign debts advance

Russian foreign debts increased by 4.6 percent in the first half of this year and amounted to $159.1bn as of July 1, 2003, the Russian Central Bank said in its survey devoted to foreign debts. At the beginning of this year the country's foreign debts were $152.1bn.

The debts in foreign currencies were $153.8bn, the debts in rubles amounted to $5.3bn. The debts of the former USSR were $55.5bn. The debts of government agencies were $100bn.

The Russian banking system increased its debts by $3.4bn to $18.6bn in the first six months of 2003. This sum includes liabilities of the Russian Central Bank and credit organizations, including Vnesheconombank.