JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Putin’s technocrats saved the economy to fight a war they opposed” – Financial Times
“Once thought of as reformers, the president’s economic confidants have ended up as enablers of an invasion they warned against.”
“One month before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine … Putin’s top economic confidants … brief[ed] him on the likely fallout from western sanctions. … Gref … led a 39-page presentation warning … of disastrous consequences …. Nabiullina … and … other attendees shared his concerns and … helped prepare the presentation. … [which] warned … ‘harsh sanctions’ would create panic on financial markets and potentially set Russia’s economy back decades. [GDP] could fall by 30 per cent in dollar terms in two years. Inflation would force the central bank to raise interest rates to 35 per cent, cutting real incomes by a fifth. Russians’ quality of life would lag behind even developing countries … Too timid to warn Putin off military escalation, the technocrats had no clear solution — and could not bring themselves to tell Putin he was at risk of courting geopolitical disaster. …”