Trend for capital flight from Russia will wane by year-end, Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development, head of the Russian delegation Alexei Likhachev told journalists at the Russian-Japanese investment forum in Tokyo.
“Fundamentally speaking, I cannot say for sure that the capital outflow resulted from sanctions,” said Likhachev. “The announced sanctions against Russia are not economy-related.”
“We shall see positive dynamics in key macroeconomic indicators” by the end of 2014, believes Likhachev. “The foundation has been laid. The factors stemming from the ruble’s decline will yield a positive effect over the medium term,” the minister added.
If the current sanctions were expanded, they would not impact capital flight, he added.
According to Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukaev, capital outflow in January – February 2014 amounted to $35 billion.
“Raising the estimate for capital outflow in 2014 is so far unreasonable,” said Ulyukaev. “In February it was similar to January’s figures, and totaled $35 billion in both months.”
The Ministry of Economy foresees a high rate of capital flight in January – February a “short-term phenomenon”. Earlier, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Andrei Klepach linked it to active purchase of foreign currency.
The ministry’s latest forecast predicts this year’s capital outflow at $25 billion. The Bank of Russia estimated the 2013 capital flight at $62.7 billion against $54.6 billion in 2012.