Explaining the growing necessity to get into debts to balance budgets in coming years to the State Duma deputies, Finance Ministry Alexei Kudrin noted that the volume of Russia’s foreign debts, even in a worst case scenario, will up till the end 2012 still be the smallest among the G20 members, and the government’s plans to borrow massively in 2010-12 will not change this status-quo.
“The volume of our state debts, even if we shall borrow Rub600bln-Rub700bln per annum by the end 2012, will not exceed 16% of GDP. The critical value, by the international criterion, is 60% of GDP.” For comparison, this parameter during the now infamous 1998 crisis stood at 140%. Another example is the United States, whose debts currently stands at $11.8trln, which is expected to rise by 54% in 2009 and by 68% in 2019, thus making it the world’s most indebted nation.