BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/07
Russian government foreign debt amounts to about $30 billion (2 % of GDP according to the new GDP figures). If the debt of the CBR and state-majority enterprises and banks are included, the public sector’s total share of Russian foreign debt is about half. Firms operating outside the banking sector hold most private sector foreign debt. However, over a third of that is debt in the form of intra-group liabilities.
Russia holds about $50 billion in short-term foreign debt. The CBR estimates that just under $30 billion of that comes due in the first half of 2016. Russia’s foreign currency reserves stood at $370 billion at the end of January. So for the Russian economy as a whole, paying down debt should not cause problems to forex liquidity. Individual firms, however, could have trouble settling their debts.