Moscow: Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said on Friday he expected no big immediate impact from western sanctions on Russia`s financial sector and argued that the country`s creditworthiness has not worsened.
"For now, I see no severe consequences for the financial sector," Moiseev told journalists on the sidelines of a business conference.
The United States imposed a second wave of sanctions on Moscow on Thursday and the European Union is also expected to announce measures over Russia`s moves to annex the Crimea region, seized from Ukraine last month.
Moiseev also criticised the downgrading of Russia`s credit outlook by leading ratings agencies, saying there is no basis for the move.
On Thursday, both S&P and Fitch revised to `negative` from `stable` their long-term outlooks on Russia`s debt.
"Our creditworthiness has not changed, of course, we`re going to have a budget this year that will be better than expected," Moiseev said.
The finance ministry`s latest official forecast envisages the budget deficit at 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, but Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said Russia may in fact have a balanced budget.
"For now, I see nothing that could infringe on the creditworthiness of Russia, nothing in the sanctions... or anywhere else," Moiseev added.
