Asked whether or not the Stabilization Fund will have enough funds to pay the three-year debt to the Paris Club and how this may tell on the economy, Mr. Gref remarked: "It cannot be said for sure yet". It is important to fix the size and priority of domestic expenditure, he added.
Early debt repayment will positively affect the rate-of-exchange policy and the country's solvency, the economic development minister said. At the same time, the matter of solvency today is not as poignant as before, he noted.
"As regards the foreign debt-GDP share, we are among the pace-setter countries. While earlier debt repayment was our Problem No One, now we have overstepped the mark and can feel safe", Mr. Gref said.
"We can for the first time conduct a sensible average-term financial policy without looking back on the debt problem", he added.
