Current ruble exchange rate favorable for exporters; factor more important than key rate - Siluanov
MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax) - The current ruble exchange rate is conducive to increasing exports, and the factor is more important for exporters than the key rate, Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.
"The most important thing is that the exchange rate is more important for exports than the rate," the minister said at the plenary session of the IX International Forum of the Financial University.
The session moderator said that the ruble exchange rate [to the dollar] is already three-digits.
"I am not saying whether the exchange rate is good or bad. I am simply saying that today the exchange rate for exporters is very, very conducive to exports," Siluanov noted.
Rostec state corporation CEO Sergei Chemezov highlighted the difficulties in exporting products due to high interest rates. "The lion's share of the products we produce and are ready to export is long-cycle production - over a year or more. It's clear that for export contracts, advance payments are around 20-30%, no more. The rest must be taken out as loans. This is of course simply madness with such an interest rate. Any contract becomes unprofitable. I think that today exports will likely have to be halted, at least for products with long production cycles," Chemezov said at the Financial University forum.
A national project supporting Russian exports exists, Siluanov told the audience. "There are tools, including budgetary ones, that help maintain exports even in these difficult conditions, possibly challenging for attracting credit resources," he said.
The issue of inflation must be addressed, Siluanov said. "Inflation primarily affects people with low incomes. It also hits companies whose current expenses are tied to inflation - wages, raw materials and supplies used in production. All of these tend to rise faster than inflation. We indeed need to solve the inflation issue. We are in solidarity with the Central Bank on this," Siluanov said.
