Russia

Russian policymakers believe the nation’s economy has adapted to the costs of the war on Ukraine and international sanctions and will continue to grow over the next few years, Bloomberg News reported. The Economy Ministry sees Russian gross domestic product slowing to 2.3% over the next two years from 2.8% in 2023, according to its macroeconomic forecast through 2026, which was discussed at a government meeting led by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin Friday and seen by Bloomberg News. GDP growth is expected to further decline to 2.2% in 2026.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is reevaluating its Russian business, including the possibility of a full withdrawal from a once-important market that has turned into a headache, the Wall Street Journal reported. Last week, the Journal reported that Binance was helping Russians move money abroad—despite the company last year saying that it had stopped working in the country, was implementing Western sanctions requirements and had restricted trading on its platform in Russia.

Russian authorities are working on a draft presidential decree to give the country's retail investors a way to unblock their frozen assets held in overseas accounts and sell them to foreign parties, the central bank said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. International sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine have blocked many Russian investors' access to securities held in jurisdictions outside the country, while Russian countermeasures have frozen Western funds within.

Binance is helping Russians move money abroad, potentially adding to its sprawling legal problems in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported. The cryptocurrency giant, led by founder Changpeng Zhao, joined many other major international companies early last year in scaling back its business in Russia, one of its largest markets by trading volume at the time. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Binance said it had stopped working there and was implementing Western sanctions requirements. It restricted trading on its platform in Russia.

DP Eurasia will file for bankruptcy for its Russian business and exit the country, the operator of the Domino's Pizza brand in Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia said on Monday, Reuters reported. In December, the company said it was considering options for its Russian operations, including a divestment, like other Western firms which have exited Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine. Some have managed to negotiate swift exits, often selling at huge discounts or handing the keys to local management.

Russia’s currency crisis might not follow the classic emerging-market template: Rather than a sharp depreciation stemmed by painful interest-rate rises, we are more likely to see a slow but inexorable decline, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Bank of Russia raised borrowing costs from 8.5% to 12% Tuesday in an attempt to stop a slide in the ruble. A day earlier, $1 briefly bought as much as 102 rubles, prompting rate setters to call an emergency meeting.

Russia's central bank hiked its key interest rate by 350 basis points to 12% on Tuesday, an emergency move to try and halt the rouble's recent slide after a public call from the Kremlin for tighter monetary policy, Reuters reported. The extraordinary rate meeting came after the rouble plummeted past the 100 threshold against the dollar on Monday, dragged down by the impact of Western sanctions on Russia's balance of trade and as military spending soars.

Russia's central bank will hold an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday to discuss the level of its key interest rate, it said on Monday, as the sharply weakening rouble prompted calls for higher borrowing costs, Reuters reported. President Vladimir Putin's economic adviser rebuked the central bank on Monday as the rouble slid past 101 per U.S. dollar, blaming loose monetary policy in a sign of growing discord among Russia's monetary authorities. The bank, whose key rate is currently 8.5%, had been scheduled to hold its next meeting on rates on Sept. 15.

Russia's budget deficit for January-July widened to 2.82 trillion roubles ($29.3 billion), or 1.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), the finance ministry said on Tuesday, citing preliminary estimates, Reuters reported. In the first seven months of last year, Russia posted a surplus of 557 billion roubles, but significant outlays to support its war in Ukraine - which Moscow calls a "special military operation" - and a barrage of Western sanctions on its oil and gas exports have hit government coffers since then.

The Irish High Court will decide on Wednesday to either wind up or appoint an examiner to two Russian State-owned aircraft and shipping leasing firms – GTLK Europe DAC and GTLK Europe Captial DAC – which are registered in Ireland, the Independent reported. Mr Justice Conor Dignam said that he would give his decision after considering petitions from several creditors of the company to have the two firms wound up, in what would be among the largest liquidations in the history of the State.