The new package of sanctions that is being prepared against Russia will not harm it, as its economy has significantly strengthened over the past seven years.
This opinion was expressed by Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
“Putin has been building the macroeconomics for a long time and carefully. After 2014, he took a defensive stance and focused his efforts to turn Russia into a financial fortress that defies external pressure, including sanctions,” Sharma wrote in his Opinions section of the Financial Times newspaper.
As the expert noted, import substitution played a special role in strengthening the Russian economy, reviving the country’s agriculture and reducing its dependence on foreign suppliers.
“Surprisingly, he (Putin – RDN editor) achieved success,” concluded Sharma.
According to Sharma, Russia and the ruble are now less dependent on world oil prices when compared with the currencies of such developed energy-exporting countries as Canada and Norway. And in the case of the pandemic and the resulting crisis, “for the first time in modern history, Russia had the means to counter the crisis by increasing government spending and lowering interest rates.”
In general, according to Sharma, Russia is currently less sensitive to external pressure than in the same 2014. And in the world after the pandemic, the Russian Federation has every chance to “survive”, since its “fortress” is well built.
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