Confidence Man CBR's Shvetsov Seeks Open Markets

摘要

Uniting a variety of regulatory agencies under the umbrella of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation may seem like a thankless mission given the ineffectual records of those bodies, but Sergey Shvetsov, the central banker charged with the job, brings optimism and a strong sense of purpose to the task. Russians have invested only 9 percent of their savings in their country's stock market, compared with about 40 percent for Americans, Shvetsov told a recent investor gathering in New York. Some 80 percent of Russians' nest eggs is stashed in bank accounts, where it does little to help finance the country's development, Increasing investment in equities and other securities can boost Russian business and provide the long-term money the economy has lacked since the end of the Soviet era, he says.