Post date: Oct 10, 2011 3:50:11 PM
Russian President's Economic Aide says Russia may buy Spanish debt to help solve the European debt problem.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 10, 2011) (RU24) - Russia may purchase Spanish debt securities in case there is a need to assist Europe to solve the debt problem, Russian President's Economic Aide Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters on Monday (October 10) speaking at the MDG-6 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Forum in Moscow.
Dvorkovich said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin had discussed a possible deal earlier with the Spanish Economy and Finance Minister Elena Salgado.
"We are waiting for the European countries to announce a comprehensive strategy for solving the crisis. If within this strategy a need for assistance from Russia and other BRICS countries arises, we will be ready to give such support. But as long as such strategy is not announced, it's to early to speak about it," Dvorkovich told journalists.
Fitch Ratings last Friday cut Italy's sovereign credit rating by one notch and Spain's by two, citing a worsening of the euro zone debt crisis and a risk of fiscal slippage in both countries.
The cuts underline the growing vulnerability of the euro zone, which is already struggling to contain the turmoil in the far smaller Greek economy and which would be overwhelm ed by a crisis of a similar scale in Italy.
It kept both countries, respectively the third and fourth largest in the euro zone, on a negative outlook suggesting further downgrades could come in future.
Italy and Spain are embroiled in the region's debt crisis and are reliant on the European Central Bank to buy their government bonds to prevent yields rising to unsustainable levels.