FX.co ★ Morgan Stanley: Russia’s financial fortress immune to Western sanctions

Ruchir Sharma, the head of the emerging markets division and chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley, believes that Russia’s economy is resilient to the US and EU sanctions. The expert is certain that Russia is capable of withstanding the strain of tough economic restrictions.

From his viewpoint, the economy of Russia has advanced notably over the past 7 years. So, a new portion of sanctions will hardly deliver a punch to this powerhouse. Recently, US State Secretary Antony Blinken announced that the White House imposed new restrictions on Russia for pushing ahead with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

Surprisingly, successful investor Ruchir Sharma gives credit to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for his confident political course. “Putin has been building the macroeconomics for a long time and carefully. After 2014, he took a defensive stance and focused his efforts to turn Russia into a financial fortress that defies external pressure, including sanctions,” Sharma stated his views in the Financial Times.

Besides, global strategist at Morgan Stanley Sharma points out that the Russian ruble is getting less sensitive to global oil prices than commodity currencies of large energy-exporters like Canada and Norway. The expert says that the ruble owes its resilience to the Kremlin’s efforts.