Almost all net capital outflow from Russia in Q1 due to debt payments – CBR

MOSCOW. April 13 (Interfax) – The private sector net capital outflow from Russia of $32.6 billion in the first quarter of 2015 was almost completely due to payments on the foreign debt of the private sector, which amounted to $29.8 billion, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) said in comments released by its press service.

Another $2.9 billion of the outflow was due to a reduction in financial assets.

In previous years, capital outflow was primarily due to the growth of private sector assets. In all of 2014, for example, Russia’s private sector reduced its foreign debt by $38.5 billion while net capital outflow totalled $154.1 billion, including respectively $33.6 billion and $77.4 billion in the fourth quarter.

In the first quarter of 2015, Russian banks reduced debt by $24.3 billion and reduced foreign financial assets by $9.7 billion, while in the fourth quarter of 2014 they acquired assets totalling $9.8 billion.

Companies in the nonbanking sector reduced foreign debt by $5.5 billion in the first quarter of 2015 (by $8.2 billion in the third and $14.3 billion in the fourth quarters of 2014), and asset growth amounted to $6.8 billion, a fraction of the figure in any quarter of 2014 (growth of $29.1 billion in the first quarter, $25.0 billion in the second, $21.6 billion in third and $39.1 billion in the fourth).