MOSCOW (Reuters) – Possible western sanctions against Russian banks will lead to a spike in market volatility but Russia will be able to withstand restrictions thanks to abundant reserves, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.
U.S. and European officials are finalising an extensive package of penalties if Russia invades Ukraine, plans for which Moscow has repeatedly dismissed.
Such sanctions could target major Russian banks but do not include banning Russia from the SWIFT financial system, according to U.S. and European officials.
Siluanov said sanctions against Russian banks would be “unpleasant” but the state will make sure that all deposits with banks, all transactions, including in foreign currencies, are secured.
“They say we have a financial shield in the form of gold and forex reserves, budget surplus … low debt,” Siluanov told reporters.
Siluanov said Russia will be able to switch to other financial systems in case if it is cut off from SWIFT.
Possible restrictions on buying of Russian debt were “unpleasant but not fatal” for Russia, which had $635 billion in gold and forex reserves as of early February, Siluanov said.
The minister said Russia had no plans to revise its 2022 borrowing plans and was considering testing foreign demand for Russian Eurobonds once the current situation calms down.
(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Additional repoting by Katya Golubkova; Writing by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Michael Urquhart)
