Russia poses the biggest security risk to world markets and will be the biggest loser from the drop in oil prices, according to a Bloomberg Global Poll of international investors.
Asked which of five possibilities posed the greatest risk to global financial markets, 52 percent of participants chose the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Twenty-six percent cited Islamic State, while Ebola barely registered with 5 percent. The U.S. was seen as the most likely beneficiary from lower crude prices.
Russia is being buffeted by the twin blows of sanctions and an oil-market selloff that threatens to hollow out its economy. While the country is menacing Ukraine with tanks and sending its jets into foreign airspace, President Vladimir Putin said Nov. 14 that the drop in crude is potentially “catastrophic” for the world’s largest energy exporter.
