Russia’s foreign debt has grown by $ 16.2 billion since the beginning of the year
Since early 2017, Russia's foreign debt has increased by 3.1%, or $16.173 billion, based on data published on the Bank of Russia's website. Thus, as of April 1, 2017, Russia's foreign debt amounted to $529.6 billion.
"The growth of accumulated foreign debt was observed in all sectors of the economy, and was largely due to a reassessment of debt obligations denominated in national currency in response to the strengthening of the Russian ruble,” says Russia's TASS news agency, citing a report from the Central Bank of Russia.
In addition, the debt obligations of the government and other sectors increased in the first quarter of 2017 as a result of transactions with non-residents. At the same time, the sectoral structure of the Russian external debt has not undergone significant changes, the Central Bank noted.
Earlier, the Central Bank of Russia reported that in the first half of 2017, Russian companies (with the exception of banks and other financial institutions) would pay $37.4 billion in repayment on the principal debt and interest thereon. Most of the planned disbursements are payments on intragroup loans which, it is highly likely, could wait for the extension and refinancing. As a result, the actual volume of the external debt payments by companies could reach $15.2 billion in the first quarter of 2017 and another $13.8 billion in the second, the Central Bank said.