Illarionov Promotes Currency Board
- By Unknown
- May. 25 2000 00:00
Presidential economic adviser Andrei Illarionov wants to establish a currency board for the ruble and lift restrictions on foreign banks' activity in the country, Izvestia newspaper said Wednesday.
It was not known if any of the proposals would be reflected in the government's economic program.
That program is expected to draw upon plans worked out by the Strategic Research Center, a think tank headed by liberal economist German Gref, but Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has said other ideas could be adopted.
Some main points of Illarionov's program as outlined in Izvestia are:
-scrap most state controls over residential rights, business registration, prices, exports and capital flows;
-establish a currency board, a system that uses a reserve currency such as the dollar to fully back the ruble at a fixed rate;
-end restrictions on foreign banks' activity;
-end government supervision over banks.