"The size of the public debt remains at a safe level - below 20% of GDP - and remains one of the lowest in the world," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
According to the minister, it was necessary to increase the national debt, since it is necessary to finance the support of citizens and business, and the country's budget revenues have decreased due to the restriction of business activity and the decline in oil prices.
At the same time, he stressed that Russian indicators in this matter are much better than in many countries, as well as in the world as a whole.
“So, according to the IMF forecasts, in 2020 alone, the level of the world public debt will increase by 18.7 percentage points. and will reach 101.5% of global GDP (the maximum ever). At the same time, the public debt of developed countries will grow by 26 percentage points. - up to 131.2% of GDP, and the public debt of developing countries - by 10.7 percentage points. - up to 63.1% of GDP, "he said.
Earlier, the media, referring to the documents of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, reported that the net public debt of Russia as of July 1 amounted to 1.55 trillion rubles and became positive.