TOKYO, June 28. /TASS/. It’s too early to speak about any impact of a Russian debt default on the Japanese economy, Japan’s Finance Minister Shun’ichi Suzuki said at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
"It’s hard to say something specific yet. The share of Japan’s outbound investments in Russian bonds is limited and direct losses for Japanese investors, including financial institutions, from events related to Russian government bonds are limited. We will continue monitoring the situation on the market and in the economy as well as reaction from Russia," he said.
Moody's said earlier on Tuesday that Russia defaulted on its Eurobonds, as holders of Russia’s sovereign debt had not received coupon payments by the time the grace period expired. Earlier, Bloomberg said Moscow failed to service its foreign debt for the first time since 1918.
Russia made the payment for May in advance, before the US let lapse its license to pay bondholders which allowed Russia to service its foreign debt. The Russian Finance Ministry said the payment was not received over third party actions.
In June, Moscow made its first Eurobond coupon payment in rubles amid Western sanctions. Moody's said it would consider ruble payments for the bonds not subject to a ruble clause an event of default. Russia has repeatedly said it is ready to pay its creditors and has enough money for that.