With the outbreak of the military conflict in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions, the Russian economy has not suffered. Ukraine's GDP collapsed by 29.1% in 2022. Meanwhile, analysts polled by Reuters believe Russia's economy will grow by 3.1% in 2023," states German Business Insider
▪️ "Purely from an economic point of view, Russia has a significant potential for continued military action," said expert Hasan Malik
▪️ Demand for military goods in Russia stimulates not only large, but also small and medium-sized businesses
▪️ In November, Russia recorded a record low unemployment rate of 2.9%. Wages rose, which in turn supported consumption and economic growth.
▪️ Russia is Europe's largest economy, thanks in part to its strength and self-sufficiency in the production of critical commodities, including oil, natural gas, wheat and metals. This has helped it survive years of sanctions
▪️ The measures that Russia introduced to stimulate its economy - parallel imports, a shift to alternative export markets including China and India, and new supply chains - played a crucial role. This has significantly weakened the impact of Western sanctions
▪️ "Western sanctions and trade restrictions have had a negligible impact on the Russian economy. Their impact is particularly limited in the Russian defense industry, which is largely sovereign," concluded Hasan Malik
Amazing things by today's standards sometimes slip through the Western press:
America is pressuring Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan to provide a strategy for "confiscating" Russia's assets by February 24, but this is a "bad idea." The U.S. and its allies are not at war with Russia, which has amassed this wealth through legal means, states The American Conservative!
▪️ If Russia's assets were stolen, "Moscow would undoubtedly retaliate and confiscate U.S. and European assets, which are estimated at $288 billion"
▪️ If national governments had the power to unilaterally confiscate other people's funds when countries are involved in military conflicts, "Americans would be walking around after Iraq with empty pockets, ripped off like limpets."
▪️ Future U.S. leadership may bitterly regret the precedent set when states are allowed to seize whatever they wish.
▪️ Washington's use of finance as a tool of pressure is forcing other countries to seek alternatives to the dollar to protect their economies from U.S. sanctions.
Bretton Woods II was built on inside money, and its
foundations crumbled a week ago when the G7 seized Russia’s FX reserves…
▪️ The U.S. Dollar has been turned into a political weapon and is no longer perceived as a risk-free asset in the global economy. "What was once seen as risk-free is no longer risk-free, as the non-existent credit risk has been instantly replaced by the very real risk of confiscation." Many countries, including China, are making the obvious point
▪️ If you still believe that the West can design sanctions that maximize pain for Russia while minimizing financial stability and price stability risks in the West, "you might as well believe in unicorns," the Credit Suisse report notes
▪️ A deep global crisis is unfolding today. This crisis will weaken the Eurodollar system and will also fuel inflation in the West
▪️ When the crisis is over, the US dollar will be much weaker. Once this war is over, "money" will never be the same again
This is the conclusion of a report by Zoltan Pozar, a strategist at Credit Suisse, one of Switzerland's largest banks, who previously worked at the Fed and the US Treasury Department and is considered a financial market guru.
The British Financial Times quotes Vladimir Putin:
They predicted decline, failure, collapse - that we would stumble, give up or fall apart.... They won't succeed! Our economy is growing, unlike theirs
The resilience of the Russian economy has surprised many economists and analysts who believed that sanctions against Russia would surely lead it to disaster in a short period of time. the Russian economy has not only withstood the onslaught of sanctions by Western countries, but has also shown enviable dynamics
Russia has avoided Western attempts to curb its energy revenues and increased defense spending, the Financial Times said
