PARIS (MNI) – The Russian government is considering lifting its
suspension on the purchase of Spanish sovereign bonds, Spain’s daily El
Pais reported Tuesday.
Last year Russia stopped buying Spanish debt, following risk
guidelines established by the Russian central bank after ratings
agencies downgraded Spain’s sovereign paper.
Asked to evaluate that decision against the current conditions in
Spain now, Russian Vice Premier Alexandr Zhukov said that Russia’s
finance ministry “has grounds to review that position.” He added: “The
success of the recent debt issuance by the Spanish state has
demonstrated confidence in growth of its economy, and that has not been
lost on Russia.”
The paper noted that Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jiminez, in
a visit to Moscow, had raised the issue of Spain’s desire to get off the
“black list” that has kept its financial instruments out of the mix in
the composition of Russia’s foreign reserves. Russia, in deciding which
foreign assets to buy, applies criteria that eliminate those that are
not considered of maximum solvency, the paper said.
At the start of 2011, Russia had more than E480 billion in declared
foreign reserves.
–Paris Newsroom, +331-42-71-55-40; bwolfson@marketnews.com
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