International BusinessRussia mulls $10 bn IMF bond purchase
Russia is considering buying up to $10 billion worth of International Monetary Fund (IMF) bonds to help boost the institution"s resources, the country"s finance minister said today.
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"We are currently discussing in the government the possibility of making a decision in the nearest future to invest our funds in up to $10 billion of IMF bonds," Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said.
The country"s central bank will buy the bonds, he told President Dmitry Medvedev in televised comments.
The IMF is working to issue its very first bonds and major developing economies such as Russia, Brazil, China and India — known collectively as the BRIC countries — are expected to act as potential buyers.
"I hope this money will serve the purpose of overcoming the repercussions of the global financial crisis and will support states — including those that are close to us — that have suffered most from the influence of the global financial crisis," Medvedev told Kudrin.
During a summit in London in April, leaders of 20 major developed and developing economies agreed to commit $1.1 trillion to the IMF and other global bodies to help struggling economies.
The once-buoyant Russian economy has been hit hard by a slump in the price of oil, its main export, and the government is planning to borrow $7billion abroad next year.