Many today remember the time when there was a default in Russia, because this period was marked by a series of unpleasant events that affected every resident of our country. In that period (summer 1998), ruble savings almost immediately depreciated, a certain period did not pay pensions and salaries, many enterprises and banks went bankrupt and closed.
The default in Russia in 1998 was due to a number of external factors. In particular, a crisis erupted in world markets in the Southeast Asia segment in 1997. During this period, the Thai currency was attacked by international speculators, as a result of which the Thai baht fell in value by half against the dollar, and the stock market - by 75%. This state had a large number of obligations with insufficient GDP. Further, strong shocks occurred in the economies of Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea. This, in turn, caused an outflow of capital from developing countries (which included the Russian Federation) and a drop in raw material prices.
When there was a default in Russia, an unprecedented preliminary drop in prices was observed in the oil market. It is known that in 1997 one barrel was worth about $ 19, while in May, a couple of months before the default, the price dropped to around $ 8. The country had large international obligations and small foreign exchange reserves. Due to insufficient funds, the Russian government was forced to abandon its obligations on bonds, borrowings on which were built according to the pyramidal system (GKO, OFZ) and default on August 17.
When there was a default in Russia, catastrophic events were observed in the financial and economic system. Then operations with government securities stopped, the stock market collapsed, and banks stopped issuing deposits. After resuming operations with short-term bonds (state short-term obligations), they were placed at a yield of more than 100%.
What are the consequences of the financial crisis in Russia? The default reduced our country's gross domestic product to the level of Belgium, we became the largest debtor in the world (more than two hundred billion dollars), about 1.2 trillion dollars of Russian money were withdrawn to the west (about eight of the country's budgets at that time). The effects of the crisis have been overcome for a long six years.
Mistakes made when there was a default in Russia made it possible to gain invaluable experience for further development. Domestic industry received a certain impetus, because imported goods became very expensive for the population due to the growth of the dollar. On the contrary, Russian goods have become easier to export, because their value has fallen significantly due to the cheap ruble.
Certain conclusions were also made regarding the financial policy of the state. In particular, the external debt of Russia at the end of 2013 amounted to $ 152 billion, of which external bond loans amounted to about $ 40 billion, and the bulk of it fell on Soviet debts. The country's gold and foreign exchange reserves (unlike 1998) are quite large, amounting to $ 700 billion, which constitute a “safety cushion”. Such measures allow the Russian economy to stay afloat during the current global economic crisis.
