Capital outflow from Russia slows to $6 bln in Feb – Klepach

MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) – Capital outflow from Russia was approximately $6 billion in February, Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach told reporters.

“Our estimate so far is about $6 billion,” Klepach said.

In other words, outflow slowed in February but outflow for the first two months of the year was still above the official forecast for the whole year.

The Economic Development Ministry estimated January outflow at $8 billion-$10 billion, although the Central Bank, whose data usually differ from the ministry’s figures, said this could have been lower.

On the basis of these estimates, outflow for the two months was $14 billion-$16 billion. The official net capital outflow estimate for the whole year is between zero and $10 billion.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at the beginning of March that outflow for the year could be between $10 billion and $15 billion.

Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov said at the end of February that outflow this year would decrease to approximately $50 billion. The Central Bank’s estimate for 2012 is $56.8 billion.