The loan was most likely issued in rubles.
Russia issued bilateral government loans worth 81 in March , 6 billion rubles., Which is close to a record for the month in nominal terms. And although traditionally for Russia borrowers are not disclosed, most likely, they received Iran and Belarus, writes Russian media.
The fact that the Russian Finance Ministry issued a state loan in March 2022, according to published data from the Federal Treasury. For comparison: in January-February such loans were issued in the amount of 28.5 billion rubles, and in March last year – only 26.2 billion rubles.
Based on the average exchange rate of the dollar against the ruble in March, this is the equivalent of about $ 790 million. In ruble terms, the rate of loans issued in March can be compared with the record of December 2021 (82.1 billion rubles).
Experts say Iran or Belarus are the most likely applicants for the March government loans.
In January 2022, the Iranian government said Tehran was considering using a $ 5 billion credit line from Russia.
Experts believe that Russia lends either to friendly countries, such as Belarus, or to those with whom it implements investment or military-strategic contracts.
“In Iran, we are building nuclear power plants [the second and third units of the Bushehr nuclear power plant], and it is possible that a new loan was issued for the purchase of relevant equipment. Therefore, the circle of potential borrowers is narrowing to Belarus, Iran, some African countries, Venezuela, “said Klimanov.
Based on this logic, the loan could well be issued in rubles, so that recipients can spend it to pay for supplies Russian products, says the expert.
In addition, according to the World Bank at the end of 2020, Russia's largest debtors on bilateral government loans were Belarus ($ 8.3 billion), Bangladesh ($ 3.3 billion) , Venezuela ($ 3.1 billion), India ($ 3 billion). Bilateral debts to Russia of sanctioned Syria amount to $ 525 million
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Earlier it was reported that the chairman of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina of the Russian Federation stated significant economic problems in the Russian Federation in the second and third quarters of this year.
