MOSCOW, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed on Monday an order approving the issuance of federal loan bonds known as OFZ in the currencies of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries.
"We allow the issue of federal bonds not only in Russian rubles, but in the national currencies of states that are close to us," Medvedev said at a government meeting.
He considered the alternative source of borrowing funds "quite timely," adding he would facilitate the access of individuals to "reliable instruments of investment."
Currently, individuals can only have access to Russia's bond market through professional players, while the new rules allow issuing special OFZ bonds with simplified acquisition procedures and limited risk, he said.8 So far, only the Bank of Russia, the country's central bank, was allowed to act as the general agent for the placement, redemption and exchange of the federal loan bonds.
Medvedev said that Russian banks that have a stable financial position and a normal retail network will also be allowed to act as agents.
Earlier this month, the Russian Parliament approved the federal budget for 2017 with a deficit of 2.75 trillion rubles (about 45 billion U.S. dollars) for 2017.
Russia, which heavily relies on its oil exports to back the budget, is looking for new ways to expand budget funding due to low oil prices.
According to earlier reports in October, Russian finance ministry officials said that Russia may use Asian credit markets to compensate for its limited access to Western funding. One option was to issue treasury bonds denominated in the Chinese currency.
The BRICS groups the world's five major emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, while the SCO currently has China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its full members.
