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What Is Next for the Russian Economy?

By:
Inna Rosputnia
Published: Mar 1, 2022, 13:23 UTC

Stock indexes close out a second consecutive month of losses as investors continue to monitor the quickly evolving headlines coming out of Ukraine.

What Is Next for the Russian Economy?

In this article:

The first round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine failed to make any progress but the two sides agreed to meet again in coming days.

I’m not really sure if that means anything as Russia now has a 40 mile convoy of military equipment and troops headed directly for the Ukraine border. At the same time, most reports indicate that fighting on the ground is intensifying and that Belarus is now preparing to deploy troops to help Russia. It’s still not clear what impact the array of sanctions the West has slapped on Russia might have on global financial markets and trade flows but the Russian economy is already being wrecked.

Russian central bank

The Russian central bank more than doubled its benchmark interest rate to 20% as it attempted to curb a run on banks and stop the fallout in the Russian ruble. At least one major Russian bank is said to be on the brink of collapse.

Meanwhile, the Russian central bank faces being cut off from a large portion of its foreign financial reserves under new restrictions from the West which will make it tougher for Russia to defend its currency. Keep in mind, the Russian ruble fell -30% against the US dollar, making it now worth less than one cent.

Some economists predict the country could face a total economic collapse if the extreme measures are kept in place for very long. Russia is now said to be preparing countermeasures against countries supporting sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its European allies. Most experts think it’s unlikely that Russia will curb its oil or gas supplies as they account for a sizable portion of the country’s GDP. However, most Russia experts also agree that it’s hard to predict what Putin might do if he feels like he’s been backed into a corner and humiliated over his miscalculation that Ukraine would be an easy land grab.

Inflation in USA

The most immediate threat to the U.S. at the current moment is that the conflict will push inflation even higher and the Federal Reserve will eventually have to get more aggressive in its efforts to bring prices down, possibly pushing the economy into a recession.

A lot of bulls believe that the U.S. consumer is actually strong enough to weather a period of both elevated inflation and higher borrowing costs thanks to healthy savings and the strong increase in asset prices witnessed over the past year and a half. I question that perspective, as I’ve seen some recent data that shows the US consumers savings level is getting back to pre-Covid levels and the higher costs of energy and housing might soon start taking a bigger bite. In fact, many bears warn that inflation is already eroding savings as well as spending power with double-digit price gains for consumer goods adding an estimated $250 in expenses for the average American household.

Investors will be scrutinizing the ISM Manufacturing Index today for signs that factory level prices might be starting to ease. The gauge climbed in January after easing for two months in a row at the end of 2021. Construction Spending is also due today. On the earnings front, highlights include AutoZone, Dominos Pizza, Hewlett Packard, Hormel Foods, J.M. Smucker, Kohl’s, Ross Stores, Salesforce, and Target.

About the Author

Inna Rosputniacontributor

Inna Rosputnia has been involved in the markets since 2009 and is the founder of https://managed-accounts-ir.com/

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