Credit agencies offer a way to measure a country’s financial health, and as you would come to expect, there is quite a bit of scheming and influencing going on behind the scenes. Russia has gotten fed up with being rated by Western credit rating agencies, so they have created a new agency altogether. Whether or not this will be beneficial to the Russian economy, remains to be seen.
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Analytical Credit Rating Agency is Now A Thing in Russia
It goes without saying that not just anyone can start their own credit rating agency. Or at least, that is what most people always assumed, although Russia is proving them wrong in that regard. The Russian central bank started this initiative as a way to fight back against the dominance of Western agencies and hopefully improve the country’s economic outlook.
Agencies like Moody’s, Fitch, and Standard & Poor’s have become household names when it comes to credit ratings for countries and economies around the world. However, all of these credit rating agencies have one thing in common: they are all located in the Western world. Russia, on the other hand, is more of an Eastern world country, and the friction between both sides still exists to this very day.
Protecting Russia’s economy from” geopolitical risks” is the official reason for creating Analytical Credit Rating Agency. However, there are those who feel this ploy is just a way of showing how any country in the world ca file the necessary paperwork and create a brand new credit rating agency out of thin air.
Furthermore, this move could alienate the Russian economy from the rest of the world even more. Over the course of recent years, a divide has been created between Russia and most other countries in the world. Recent Western sanctions over Ukraine, combined with the falling oil prices, have not helped out the economy in the country at all.
Bitcoin Offers Transparency Instead of Obfuscation
When a country can “judge” its own economic health, nothing good will ever come from this scenario. It wouldn’t be that far of a stretch to think Bitcoin will be gaining a lot of popularity in Russia over the coming years, despite stark warnings from government officials not to get involved in digital currency.
That being said, Bitcoin offers far more transparency and public accountability than the Russian economy ever well. Creating the Analytical Credit Rating Agency is only obfuscating things, even more, which is the last thing Russia needs right now. Only time will tell how this scenario plays out, but it is safe to say this decision will backfire in some form or shape sooner or later.
Source: Telegraph UK
