MOSCOW, May 8. / TASS /. Russia has the potential to build up sovereign debt, said the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina during an online conference on Friday.

"We really have a fairly low debt, one of the lowest. Of course, we have the potential to increase sovereign debt in some way," she said. "A certain increase in public debt is possible, it is being discussed, but we must do it carefully. The Central Bank does not plan to participate in the direct redemption of the sovereign debt," she said.

At the same time, according to Nabiullina , a low level of sovereign debt is Russia's competitive advantage, which creates additional stability of the economy, regardless of the external situation.

Earlier, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the Finance Ministry plans to increase the volume of public debt by 1.5-2% of GDP in 2020 to compensate for shortfalls in non-oil and gas revenues, as a result of which the amount of funds raised from the market can reach 4-4.5 trillion rubles.