THE EXPONENTIAL RISE OF RUSSIA'S MIR PAYMENT SYSTEM

摘要

When Russian president Vladimir Putin held his annual telethon with voters in June 2021, he was quick to emphasise the country's ability to thrive in spite of US sanctions. As an idea, it is not without merit: Russia's economy has performed admirably in recent years, helped by prudent fiscal and monetary policies, as well as regulatory efforts to strengthen the banking system. That much of this success has come in the aftermath of US and EU sanctions, imposed in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, underscores the basic truth behind Mr Putin's claim. By creating what has been dubbed 'Fortress Russia', the Kremlin has engineered a high degree of domestic autonomy for the national economy and, by extension, mitigated the cost of sanctions imposed by foreign actors.