“The limitations have not been lifted…What’s the point? Why complicate our labor?” Storchak told journalists in response to estimates of foreign loans Russia may request in the future.
The Russian Finance Ministry set the ceiling in its 2016 budget for foreign loans at $3.5 billion.
“We have left ourselves a base in order to react with flexibility on market changes,” Storchak added.
The deputy finance minister said that Russia might return to the foreign debt market through Asian partners, including China. He added that even in that case, Moscow would have to wait for sanctions removal, as otherwise the restrictions might affect buyers of Russian bonds.
Moscow has not been taking foreign loans since 2014, while the law on the 2015 budget did not even envisage the possibility of taking a loan.
