Russia Bank Group Head: No Debt Reschedule Plan Submitted To Government
February 10 2009 - 1:49AM
Dow Jones News
Russia's Association of Regional Banks Tuesday denied a report
in a Japanese newspaper claiming it had asked the government to
press foreign banks to reschedule loans worth up to $400
billion.
The article appeared in the Nikkei daily and initially fueled a
resurgence of risk aversion in financial markets.
But Banking Association head Anatoly Aksakov said no debt
rescheduling plan had been - or would be - submitted to the
government.
Aksakov told Dow Jones Newswires that the $400 billion figure
referred to Russian companies' total foreign debt for the next five
years, adding that government reserves and sovereign wealth funds
contain around $600 billion, allowing Russian firms not to worry
about rescheduling debt.
-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Andrew Langley, Dow Jones
Newswires; +7 495 937 8445; jacob.pedersen@dowjones.com