Fitch worried on Russian politics
Ratings agency Fitch revised Russia’s outlook to “stable” from “positive” yesterday. Rising “political uncertainty” and the global economic outlook were both blamed. “Political risk, reflected by poor governance indicators, is a long-standing weakness compared with most other triple-B rated countries,” Fitch announced. Such political worries increase the risk of capital flight, the agency claimed, which would put more pressure on central bank reserves and the rouble. However, the agency did point to higher-than-expected oil prices helping push Russia’s budget into surplus in 2011, though the weak global economic outlook may mean the government registers a deficit of two per cent of GDP in 2012.