Russia's Economic Crisis Deepens Amid Erratic Leadership

Boris Yeltsin's erratic leadership has severely damaged the Russian economy, despite years of so-called economic reform. The country's economic crises, including a recent request for a midsummer liquidity infusion, have been exacerbated by Yeltsin's inconsistent and often bombastic reactions to the situation. As a result, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cobbled together a plan that added $18 billion to the 1996 bailout, but Russia's parliament has failed to pass necessary structural reforms, and investors are treating the latest bailout as a last opportunity to leave the country.

Key Takeaways:

• Boris Yeltsin's erratic leadership has led to a surge in economic crises in Russia, including a recent request for a midsummer liquidity infusion.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has added $18 billion to the 1996 bailout plan, but Russia's parliament has failed to pass necessary structural reforms.
• The latest bailout has had the opposite effect of calming the markets, with investors treating it as a last opportunity to exchange rubles for hard currency and leave the country.
• Yeltsin's leadership style has included bombastic rhetoric and a willingness to burn bridges, including a recent approval of a 34 percent reduction in the ruble's value and a unilateral 90-day debt moratorium.
• Russia's parliament is dominated by nationalists and communists, and has passed laws limiting foreign investment in Russia's electricity monopoly.
• Corruption is endemic in Russia, with Kremlin officials accused of pilfering aid from the IMF's 1996 bailout plan.

Statistics:

• $10 billion: The amount of aid disbursed from the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) 1996 bailout plan.
• $18 billion: The amount added to the 1996 bailout plan.
• 6 years: The amount of time Russia has been undergoing economic reform with little to show for it.
• 80,000: The estimated number of people killed in the Chechnya war led by Boris Yeltsin.
• 400,000: The estimated number of people displaced by the Chechnya war.
• 5%: The reduction in the ruble's value allowed by Yeltsin's approval.
• 90 days: The length of the unilateral debt moratorium declared by Yeltsin.

Sources:

• "A View from the West: Roll Them, Yeltsin and His Forlinshmen", by John O'Sullivan, National Review, August 22, 1998.
• "Russia Heads for Bankruptcy", by Donatella Roveri, Europolitics, August 17, 1998.
• "Clinton, IMF and the Russian Crisis", by John M. Broder, The New York Times, August 20, 1998.