Christine Lagarde has been elected by the IMF’s Executive Board to be the fund’s new managing director, filling the vacancy created by the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. France’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Finances and Industry and a former synchronized swimmer, Lagarde will lead the global rainy day fund for the next five years. As the [...]
Tag: World Bank
June 30, 2011
June 25, 2011
World Bank Sees Debt Crisis Risk
Russia may face a debt crisis similar to the one gripping Greece by 2030 unless the government reduces spending, said Sergei Ulatov, the resident World Bank economist in Moscow. “By 2030 the debt level would be unsustainable like in Greece” if nothing changes, Ulatov said in an interview during the Russia and CIS Capital Markets Forum organized by Euromoney in London on Thursday. “Right now, we are mostly helped [...]
June 23, 2011
$1Bln Fund Will Support Smaller Banks
A new fund for investing in private regional banks put together by the Finance Ministry, the International Financial Corporation and Vneshekonombank should reach $1 billion and speed up consolidation in a sector already being squeezed by competition from large state-controlled lenders. The Russian government will contribute $50 million to the Russian Banking Opportunity Fund, or RBOF, unveiled during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last week. [...]
June 18, 2011
New rules for world economy should be devised by UN says Medvedev
New regulations for the functioning of the world economy should be drawn up by the widest possible international representation, including up to the level of the United Nations, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday. Speaking at the closing session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Medvedev said he supported the opinion of [...]
June 16, 2011
From Post-Soviet Shindig to Don’t-Miss Event
Putin speaking at the St. Petersburg forum in 2007, the year that the Kremlin started promoting it as Russia’s key economic event. Belarus won a 500 billion ruble loan from Russia at the first gathering 15 years ago of what has evolved into the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. But Minsk, currently mired in a [...]
June 15, 2011
From Post-Soviet Shindig to Don’t-Miss Economic Event
From Post-Soviet Shindig to Don’t-Miss Economic Event By Irina Filatova The St. Petersburg Times Published: June 16, 2011 (Issue # 1660) Igor Tabakov / The St. Petersburg Times Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina speaks at a 2009 forum event. MOSCOW — Belarus won a 500 billion ruble loan from Russia at the first gathering 15 years ago of what [...]
June 14, 2011
Jamaica Longs for Russian Tourists
Jamaica, the Caribbean island known for reggae music and white-sand beaches, aims to double tourists from Russia and add direct flights from Brazil to take advantage of emerging nations’ growing wealth and stronger currencies. Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said he is heading to Russia this week to work on an agreement with Aeroflot as part of a plan to increase annual arrivals from the former Soviet nation to 3,000 from 1,500. “We [...]
June 10, 2011
Capital Outflow Could Surge 42% to Reach $50Bln in 2011
Capital outflows from Russia may surge 42 percent to $50 billion this year as rising imports trim the country’s current account surplus, according to Alfa Bank, the country’s largest private lender. Outflows may be $20 billion in the second quarter after reaching $12.8 billion in April and May, Natalya Orlova and Dmitry Dolgin, analysts at the Moscow-based bank, wrote Thursday in an e-mailed research note. Alfa [...]
June 9, 2011
Renewable Energy Feared by Oil Lobby
Wind power is finding favor in regions with tight budgets, like Kalmykia. Russia aims to more than quadruple renewable power generation by 2020 and has formidable resources to do so, but its hydrocarbon lobby is stonewalling progress and is unlikely to back down in the foreseeable future. “There is total paranoia concerning renewables here,” said Alexei Zhikarev, who heads the Russia renewable energy [...]
June 9, 2011
Russian Press at a Glance, Thursday, June 9, 2011
POLITICS The Russia-EU summit, which opens on Thursday in the central Russian town of Nizhny Novgorod may bring a breakthrough in the implementation of the Partnership for Modernization program. Russia’s largest banks VEB and Sberbank, and the EU’s EBRD and EIB agreed to lend at least 2 billion euros to business projects under the program [...]
June 8, 2011
State Allots $10Bln to Court Investors
The last few weeks have been busy for Deputy Economic Development Minister Stanislav Voskresensky. His ministry is putting the final touches on a new state private equity fund that will be launched next week with the goal of improving investor confidence. The sovereign direct investment fund, initiated by President Dmitry Medvedev, aims to reduce risks associated with investing in Russia by making the state a partner. It [...]
June 3, 2011
Future of the CIS: Is a united economic space possible?
Efforts to enhance economic integration in the CIS have been complicated by the fact that Russia’s approach has been excessively political. If policy were based more on economic and commercial considerations in terms of costs and benefit for the Russian economy, more progress could be made. Valdaiclub.com interview with professor Julian M. Cooper, Centre for [...]
June 2, 2011
Details for WTO Entry Due in June
GENEVA — Russia must announce in June how it will end a raft of protectionist measures if it wants to join the World Trade Organization this year, the diplomat vetting Russia’s entry to the trade body said Tuesday. Leaders of the G8 group of the world’s most advanced economies called last week for Russia to enter the 153-member body by the end of the year, a move expected to boost Russia’s GDP [...]
May 31, 2011
Putin Vows to Spend $285Bln on Roads Over Next Decade
TVER — Russia will spend 8 trillion rubles ($285 billion) over the next decade to double the rate of road building, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday, addressing one of the most sensitive issues for voters. Putin, who has not ruled out taking part in the presidential election in March 2012, is keen to appease car owners. Opinion polls suggest that Russians are increasingly [...]