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Russian Trade Surplus Increases Despite Sanctions
By Olga Tanas of Russia Insider
This article originally appeared on Bloomberg.
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Russia’s trade surplus widened in the eight months through August from the same period last year as the ruble weakened and President Vladimir Putin banned a range of food imports.
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The surplus was $150 billion in January-August, $13.1 billion higher than in the same period of 2013, the Federal Customs Service in Moscow said today. Imports fell 5.5 percent to $192.5 billion, outpacing a 0.6 percent increase in exports to $342.9 billion.
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Russia’s economy is buckling under the weight of sanctions as the ruble hovers near record lows against the dollar and the conflict in Ukraine has the country locked in a standoff with the U.S. and its allies. Putin struck back in August by banning the imports of meat, fish, dairy products, fruits and vegetables from the U.S., the EU, Canada, Norway and Australia for a year.
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“There are good chances that there could be lasting damage to trade relations,” Neil Shearing, chief emerging-markets economists at Capital Economics, said by e-mail. “My sense is that Moscow is tilting toward a more isolationist approach to economic policy, which is a concern from the point of view of medium-term growth.”
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The ruble weakened 0.3 percent to 39.9524 per dollar as of 7 p.m. in Moscow, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It sank to a record low of 40.08 yesterday and was the worst performer among more than 170 currencies tracked by Bloomberg, with a 14 percent drop last quarter.
.
Russia’s trade surplus widened in the eight months through August from the same period last year as the ruble weakened and President Vladimir Putin banned a range of food imports.
.
The surplus was $150 billion in January-August, $13.1 billion higher than in the same period of 2013, the Federal Customs Service in Moscow said today. Imports fell 5.5 percent to $192.5 billion, outpacing a 0.6 percent increase in exports to $342.9 billion.
.
Russia’s economy is buckling under the weight of sanctions as the ruble hovers near record lows against the dollar and the conflict in Ukraine has the country locked in a standoff with the U.S. and its allies. Putin struck back in August by banning the imports of meat, fish, dairy products, fruits and vegetables from the U.S., the EU, Canada, Norway and Australia for a year.
.
“There are good chances that there could be lasting damage to trade relations,” Neil Shearing, chief emerging-markets economists at Capital Economics, said by e-mail. “My sense is that Moscow is tilting toward a more isolationist approach to economic policy, which is a concern from the point of view of medium-term growth.”
.
The ruble weakened 0.3 percent to 39.9524 per dollar as of 7 p.m. in Moscow, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It sank to a record low of 40.08 yesterday and was the worst performer among more than 170 currencies tracked by Bloomberg, with a 14 percent drop last quarter.
