Moscow fears Euro's fall

17.02.2012

Russia is worried Eurozone problems could spread to the country, hitting its currency reserves, and foreign trade as well, says Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

"We are interested in the euro being a stable currency,” Siluanov told IX Krasnoyarsk economic Forum.

This is “because 40% of all gold currency reserves are lodged in euro assets.We want the situation to stabilize," the minister said.

Also, Russia’s foreign trade could be hit hard, as almost a half of its $821.3bln trade turnover comes from the EU. So, should the crisis get worse, both Russia’s imports and exports could be damaged, which will also lead to a decrease in Russian industrial production, Siluanov added.

Russia's participation in the IMF capitalization was announced earlier at "around $10 billion," he reminded his audience.

The IMF has asked for an additional $600bln, said Siluanov, adding that Russia could lend a helping hand after other major donors do their bit. During the last EU summit in December the Euro policy makers agreed to throw an additional $260bln lifeline to the IMF. In Asia China and Japan said they could contribute. The Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, Sweden and Norway could also join the donors’ club, and Great Britain has promised to make a decision on more funds early this year.

The IMF seeks to boost its assets to $1trln, with a final decision planned to take place at a G20 meeting late February this year.