Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin said that Russia's national currency should be supported because a "big trend toward the de-dollarization" of the country's economy is growing at a steady pace.
"There is a big trend toward the de-dollarization of the Russian economy. The Central Bank made some very important steps so that fewer foreign currency loans were issued," Sputnik cited Oreshkin as saying.
The minister added that the increased role of the ruble "is such a trend that should be fully supported."
"And we should move away from, among others, foreign currency loans. Because we see what foreign exchange risks can lead to," Oreshkin stressed.
The head of the department of stock markets and financial engineering of the Faculty of Finance and the Banking Business of RANEPA, Konstantin Korischenko, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, in the first place noted that after the 2014 crisis, the share of foreign currency loans and deposits has decreased. "Now the dollar is not used so actively. The only way to reduce its circulation is to limit reserve requirements to the banking system associated with foreign currency deposits. Establishing an increased risk of foreign currency loans is also possible measure," the expert said.
At the same time, he stressed that the renewed interest in it is connected with a more complicated political situation, as well as with attempts to escape from the use of foreign currency in general, and the dollar in the first place.
In addition, the head of the department of stock markets and financial engineering of the Faculty of Finance and the Banking Business of RANEPA explained why dollar loans are not in demand now. "The ruble is floating, most of the Russian people's incomes are also is rubles, so taking foreign currency loans is risky enough. I do not think that such measures will somehow significantly affect the market of loans and deposits, "Konstantin Korishchenko summed up.
The associate professor of the department of finance, money circulation and credit of RANEPA, Maxim Safonov, in turn, recalled that the share of foreign currency lending in Russia's economy is very high due to the abundance of imported purchases. "Despite the fact that the government is pursuing an active policy of import substitution, a large share of food products is still imported, which provides a strong link to settlements in foreign currencies. So the question to the government is why should it make such statements if the market should determine itself what it needs," he drew attention.
Among the measures to stimulate ruble loans, Maxim Safonov named the rate subsidies in the first place . "It is a classic way of creating more favorable conditions for specific borrowers. We have a Russian Export Center and a Russian Export-Import Bank, which provide direct financial support to Russian exporters and importers. Of course, no one will abolish currency exchange operations," the economist concluded.
