Russia might consider banning grain exports altogether if informal trade restrictions already in place fail to benefit the economy as hoped, a senior minister said on Monday, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
The bulk of Russia's grain output is wheat, for which it is
expected to be the world's fourth-largest exporter this year.
But in response to rising food inflation it curbed grain
exports in December, imposing tougher quality monitoring while announcing an
export tax that will come into force on February 1.
"Measures have been taken. If that is not enough, there
are more radical proposals," one of the country's deputy prime ministers,
Arkady Dvorkovich, told a meeting with lawmakers of President Vladimir Putin's
United Russia party.
"I think it is unnecessary to impose an embargo on
exports for now, but such proposals exist," RIA news agency quoted
Dvorkovich as saying.
Russia had been exporting record volumes from a large grain
crop of 104 million tonnes as the plunging value of the rouble linked to the
country's economic crisis spurred a dash for hard currencies while driving up
domestic prices.
December's informal export curbs, which have been stepped up
since the start of the year while bringing domestic wheat prices down, were the
third on grain since 2008, when it set a wheat tax.
It last banned grain exports altogether in 2010 after a
drought, causing ructions on markets. Dvorkovich did not specify at what point
Russia might consider another ban.
Turkey, Egypt and Iran are the largest buyers of Russian
wheat.
Read the article HERE.
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