Russian deal

RUSSIA is likely to reach an agreement on restructuring its debt this month, according to a senior economist with the Institute for International Finance (IIF).

In Paris, 19 creditor countries in the so-called Paris Club agreed to reschedule more than dollars 15bn of the dollars 17bn of medium- and long-term debt and interest that Russia was to have paid to Western public-sector creditors in 1992 and 1993. 'It is a reasonable assumption that commercial banks will follow suit,' said the IIF's Keith Savard, who estimated that dollars 16bn of Russian debt was held by at least 300 banks.