IMF mission to visit Russia for first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed that a mission from the Fund will visit Russia to discuss the country's economic development and policies.

Source: Reuters

Details: The IMF will be the first major international financial institution to send an official mission to Russia after the Kremlin started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The IMF mission will commence work online on 16 September and will continue with a delegation visit to Moscow to meet with Russian officials to discuss the country's economic development and policies.

The Fund has not provided loans to Russia since 1998 and has not provided technical assistance since 2022. The most recent annual IMF mission to Russia took place in November 2019, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After Moscow launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many Western countries proposed expelling Russia from the IMF. However, this proved challenging due to the resistance from other major members, such as China and India, who hold substantial voting quotas.

Since the onset of the full-scale invasion, Western member states have criticised the IMF for what they perceive as overly optimistic projections regarding the Russian economy, which has been heavily affected by sanctions. They have also emphasised that robust legal foundations must support any actions to seize frozen Russian assets.

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