Russia Has a Scenario in Case There Is War in Iraq

This was said by the Russian Vice Premier Aleksey Kudrin in Washington after the session of finance ministers of the countries of the Group of Eight. Aleksey Kudrin arrived in the American capital in order to participate in the autumn session of the IMF and World Bank governing bodies.

Kudrin assured Western politicians that Russia was not going to raise loans either in the IMF, or in the World Bank in 2003. Russian finance minister stated that Russia’s budget 2003 would allow Russia to execute all of its foreign debt obligations and settle its home social issues as well.

“We are not going either to the IMF, or to the World Bank for a loan, even if the events are developed in a pessimistic scenario the next year,” said Kudrin. The year 2003 will be a special one for Russia, because it will be the year, in which the country will have to experience the peak of its foreign debt payments.

Apparently, Washington was not expecting such a statement from the Russian finance minister. It is worth mentioning that Western media have been writing that Russia will be forced to raise more foreign loans in order to pay its current foreign debt and preserve the social stability within the country. This was a common opinion amid the Western press. In addition to that, the deputies of the Russian parliament reduced the budgetary reserves of the Russian government by at least 50 billion rubles.

According to Kudrin, Russia is not afraid of the possible reduction of oil prices. Aleksey Kudrin pointed out that the government had reserved an opportunity to borrow small sums (up to $1.5 billion) on financial markets of the world. This was done for this and the next years. It should be reminded here that the government originally planned to borrow not less than one billion dollars. However, the figure was raised up to 1.5 billion dollars during the work on the budget.

Answering journalists’ question about the consequences of the American action in Iraq, Aleksey Kudrin said that the government had counted possible variants. Kudrin said that Russia had a certain scenario to act in such a situation.

On the photo: Aleksey Kudrin, Vice Premier, Finance Minister of Russia

Akhtyam Akhtyrov
PRAVDA.Ru

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Author`s name Olga Savka
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