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SWIFT will ‘shoot itself in the foot’ by disconnecting Russia — lawmaker

According to Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov, the ruble exchange rate by the end of the year will not demonstrate significant dynamics

Russian Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov Kirill Kukhmar/TASS

Russian Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov

© Kirill Kukhmar/TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, June 3. /TASS/. The SWIFT payment system will "shoot itself in the foot" by disconnecting Russia, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

Such restrictions could strike a blow to Russia's financial stability while adapting to the situation, "but then our partners, who are not included in SPFS financial messaging system, will quickly join, and the system will immediately begin to function normally. By disconnecting us, SWIFT will shoot itself in the foot," he added.

In turn, fluctuations of the ruble in such situation are possible, but they will be rather subjective. However, the collapse of the Russian ruble, as happened with the Turkish lira, will not happen - neither in the event of falling oil prices, nor geopolitical risks, Aksakov said.

"Thanks to the actions of the Bank of Russia and a more coordinated policy with the Russian Ministry of Finance, we were able to create a situation where the ruble is stable, even when oil falls to negative values, like last year," he said.

According to Aksakov, the ruble exchange rate by the end of the year will not demonstrate significant dynamics.

The 24th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is being held on June 2-5. The forum’s business program will focus on the global and Russian economies, social issues, and technological development. TASS is the information partner and the official photo hosting agency of the forum.

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