Russia’s crisis ‘short-term’ – head of China’s leading rating agency

February 13,2015

The economy of Russia is self-sufficient and sanctions won’t kill it, Guan Jianzhong Chairman of Dagong Global Credit told RT. Unlike most Western economies that are suffering from a debt “bubble,” Russia’s problems are caused by “outside hits.”

“Though it [the Russian economy – Ed.] has a lot in common with Western economies and the world economy as a whole, its crisis is connected not with domestic problems, but rather with outside hits,” Jianzhong said.

“To my mind, the crisis that Russia is facing now is short –term and not that significant. But countries with a huge government debt, or economies with average debt have crises caused by domestic factors and, compared to Russia, their problems are much more serious and will last longer,” he added.

Despite the fact that these economies resorted to such methods as quantitative easing in order to prevent recession the burden of their loans is still weighing, and they can’t solve this problem, he said.

“Therefore, I believe that Western sanctions cannot fundamentally undermine the Russian economy,” he concluded. “Especially after Russia embarked on a strategy of ‘turning to the East’, the development of economic ties with China and other Asian countries will it help survive the crisis.”

The ratings agencies had no grounds to lower Russia’s rating, as its economic environment isn’t a reason, Jianzhong said, referring to S&P cutting Russia’s rating to ‘junk’ status.