Russia to decide on future eurobonds in autumn

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Russia may not borrow again on foreign markets this year and a decision on future sovereign borrowing abroad would be made in a few months, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin said on Saturday."I believe we'll make a decision in the autumn," Pankin said.Russia raised $5.5 billion last month in its first eurobond in over a decade. Moscow had originally planned to borrow up to $17.8 billion abroad, but officials have since cut the target to $7.5 billion."This doesn't mean that we'll be borrowing the $7.5 billion," Panking told journalists on the sidelines of the annual conference of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development."It's quite possible that we'll stop at the volume that we've already borrowed."Pankin also said that if there is a need to finance the budget deficit -- now forecast to reach 6.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) this year alone -- state borrowing should first take place on the domestic market."The volumes of borrowing in foreign currencies should be minimised," Pankin said.He advised Russian corporations that are planning to issue debt to wait until conditions on international markets improve."It's better not to enter the market right now," Pankin said.Speaking about the rouble, which has strengthened significantly this year, scaling fresh 17-month highs on Friday against the euro-dollar basket the central bank uses for guiding the currency's nominal exchange rate, Pankin said it remains a big problem that the rouble's rate and the country's whole economy is still hugely dependent on the oil and gas sector.Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund urged the Russian government to consider reintroduction of capital controls if short-term capital again flows massively into the country.Pankin said that the issue of capital controls remains very sensitive for Russia, as the country rid of them in 2006, priding itself on liberalising the economy."We are approaching the idea of capital controls very carefully and for now no decisions have been made," Pankin said.(Reporting and writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
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