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‘Theft’ of sovereign assets now US government policy – Moscow

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that frozen Russian funds will be leveraged to support Ukraine

Washington’s use of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to repay a $20 billion loan to Ukraine shows that the US has advanced “theft” to the level of government policy, the Russian Embassy in the US has said.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced a “historic decision to leverage Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine.” The US will provide Kiev with a $20 billion loan as part of a broader $50 billion G7 package, he said in a press release.

The day before, both the EU and UK announced loans of their own, similarly to be repaid via interest from Russian funds.

The use of windfall profits from blocked Russian assets will provide Ukraine assistance “without burdening taxpayers,” Biden said.

As Kiev’s biggest war sponsor, Washington says it has provided Ukraine with more than $64 billion in military assistance since the escalation of the conflict in 2022.

READ MORE: EU to ‘steal’ Russian money for Ukrainian loan

The Russian Embassy in the US noted the use of the word “historic” in the White House press release, commenting on the statement on Thursday.

These types of Western measures have been rejected in the international arena, the mission added.

“The neocolonial deals of a small group of countries led by the United States have long and deservedly aroused a sharp rejection by the global majority,” the statement said.

“The results of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, which confirmed the need for multilateral efforts to build a truly independent financial architecture that would be protected from such blatant illegal actions, are the clearest proof of this,” the embassy stated.

On Wednesday, the leaders of BRICS countries slammed the illegal sanctions and their damaging effects on the global economy and trade, as one of the points in the extensive joint Kazan Declaration. They called for the elimination of these “unlawful unilateral coercive measures,” as measures that are “inconsistent with rules” of the WTO undermine the UN Charter and destabilize the multilateral trading system.

Western countries sanctioned an estimated $300 billion in sovereign Russian assets soon after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, blocking the assets in Western financial institutions.

Despite US pressure to confiscate the funds entirely, the IMF has thus far opposed the move over fears that it could undermine global trust in the Western financial system. Moscow has said it would view this as “theft” and would retaliate in kind.

https://www.rt.com/news/606309-theft-us-policy-moscow/

IMF upgrades Russia to world’s fourth-largest economy

The country is outperforming Japan in terms of purchasing power parity, according to the Washington-based organization

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has ranked Russia as the world’s fourth-largest economy based on purchasing power parity (PPP).

PPP compares economic productivity and standards of living between countries by adjusting for differences in the cost of goods and services.

In its World Economic Outlook published on Tuesday, the IMF said Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 amounts to 3.55% of global GDP in terms of PPP, outperforming Japan, which has 3.38%.

According to the report, Russia ranks fourth in terms of PPP after China (18.8%), the US (15%), and India (7.9%).

The latest figures show that the world’s leading economies by PPP now include three BRICS countries – China, India, and Russia – the report authors noted, pointing out that Russia’s upgrade has been driven by Western sanctions.

“Today we have to implement aggressive import substitution and establish our own production. Therefore, Russia’s fourth place is quite expected,” the head of Macroeconomic Research Center at the Financial University, Evgeny Balatsky, told Rossyiskaya Gazeta.

“In recent years, Russia overtook its European competitors – one after another – the UK, France, Germany, and now Japan,” he added.

Earlier this month, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the share of the BRICS countries in global GDP, as measured by PPP, has been growing steadily to reach the current figure of 36.7%.

IMF data shows that the global GDP share of the G7 countries (Canada, France, Japan, Italy, the US, UK, and EU) in terms of PPP has been in decline, dropping from 50.42% in 1982 to 29% in 2024.

The IMF has also boosted its 2024 growth forecast for Russia and now expects the country’s GDP to grow 3.6% this year, an increase from its previous projection of 3.2%. However, the Washington-based institution cut its estimate for next year’s growth from 1.5% to 1.3%.

The IMF has linked the downgrade for 2025 to “private consumption and investment slow amid reduced tightness in the labor market and slower wage growth.”

https://www.rt.com/business/606344-russia-fourth-biggest-economy-ppp-imf/