The outflow of capital is ... What are the key reasons for the outflow of capital from Russia

The capital of the country is not just material savings, but a pledge of its long years of prosperity. If the country has enough material resources, this means that they can be directed not only to development, but also to use during a crisis. Therefore, a significant outflow of capital is a big problem for any country. The most common reason is the excess of imports over exports and the export of funds due to unfavorable investment environment in the country. In today's article, we will examine the essence, forms and consequences of the "flight" of capital.

The essence of the concept

The system of economic concepts that characterize modern foreign economic relations between countries remains controversial. There are different approaches to assessing the nature of foreign investment. In general, the outflow of capital is the transfer of funds from the territory of one state for placement in another country. At the same time, this phenomenon does not include the situation with the change of ownership, when the enterprise actually becomes the owner of the foreigner, since in this case the assets remain at home. The new owner continues to pay taxes and provide jobs, that is, his personal capital serves the benefit of the domestic economy. Similarly, the conversion of money into foreign currency is not included if it remains in the country, regardless of whether it is stored in a bank account or at home in a stocking.

The capital of the shadow economy

"Gray" money is a significant component of the national economy of many developing countries, including Russia. They accumulate as a result of illegal business and banking activities, illegal loans and illegal actions in case of loss of solvency. Nevertheless, these funds can not be included in the capital of the country, so they should not be included in the "flight" of money from the country. In Russia they are subject to national and international legislation on countering the legalization of assets obtained by criminal means.

The reasons for the "flight" of capital

There is a fairly wide range of views on why there is an outflow of funds. But most experts consider responsible for this unstable economic or political situation, corruption, high level of taxes.

So, the main reasons that the personal capital of legal entities and individuals go abroad are as follows:

• Unfavorable economic and investment climate in the country (political instability, small market capacity, devaluation of the ruble, undeveloped infrastructure).
• Excessive liberalization, imposed by the world financial institutions.
• The economic course conducted in the country, which stimulates investments in foreign currency.
• Inefficiency of taxation.
• Lack of cooperation between the business sector and government.
• Mistrust of the population towards the banking sector.
• Criminalization of economic activity and high efficiency of laundering of illegal incomes.
• The risk of depreciation of money and tangible assets.

Types of outflow of funds

The transfer of money abroad or their non-return from there is carried out in various ways. The main ones are the following:

• Investing in foreign banks of money that used to be on the accounts in the Russian Federation.
• Export of currency on cards and traveler's checks and securities when crossing the border.
• Non-return to the country of profits from economic activities received abroad.
• Use of non-bank transfers.

The practice is that often several methods are used simultaneously. If we divide them from the point of view of legality, we can distinguish three main groups:

1. Legitimate ways. These include the export of currency on cards or the creation of enterprises abroad.
2. "Gray" ways. They include non-return of profits from abroad, smuggling of foreign currency, which is not subject to the Criminal Code.
3. Illegal methods. These include the actions described in articles 188 and 193 of the Criminal Code.

Negative effect of leaving money abroad

The "flight" of capital is far from a new phenomenon for the Russian economy. The outflow of capital was observed during the Great Troubles, the Petrine reforms, serfdom and the socialist revolution. This phenomenon is typical for all unstable national economies. The owners seek to protect their commercial interests, so they choose the best conditions for allocating funds. The effect of capital flight is reduced to risks in the following spheres: economic, political and social. In addition, this leads to an increase in corruption and the level of crime. The main problem is that the negative effect has the property of accumulating, and the situation has the property of escalating in the future.

Export of capital from Russia

The amount of money that comes to Russia is less than those that leave the country. The official "flight" of capital is carried out in the form of increasing foreign assets by domestic commercial banks, buying foreign shares, as well as currency for sale to the business sector and individuals. This component is easy to calculate and monitor. Illegal capital outflow is the balance of untranslated export earnings, payment of non-existent imports, as well as money missed in barter transactions.

In 2014, according to the Central Bank of Russia, the official figure grew 2.5 times compared with the previous reporting period and amounted to more than $ 150 billion. USA. At the same time, all the preliminary forecasts spoke of a smaller one for at least 20 billion outflows. Experts agree that at such a low oil price, it will be difficult for banks to maintain the required amount of the reserve, and the problems of the economy are structural rather than cyclical.

Ways to solve the problem

The outflow of capital is a problem that can not be solved in one day. Here, an institutional transformation of the economy is needed.

Let's consider the main ways to save money in the country:

1. Providing mechanisms to protect businesses from unexpected nationalization or raider seizures.
2. Additional tax and administrative burden on companies that use chains of owners in order to hide the real beneficiary.
3. Increase the transparency of doing business.
4. The introduction of a tax on investments from Russia.
5. Control over the observance of the term of foreign investment in the economy of the Russian Federation.
6. Combating money laundering through offshore.
7. Implementation of preferential regimes for regulating the movement of capital.
8. Formation of a new ideology and propaganda of patriotism.