Posted on 09/09/2016 3:34:58 PM PDT by ameribbean expat
Russia spent 18.4 percent of its reserve fund in a single month to plug deficits in the federal budget, Finance Ministry figures released Tuesday have revealed. The country’s reserve fund fell from $38.18 billion to $32.2 billion during the course of August 2016, shrinking to just over a third of pre-crisis levels, reports The Moscow Times.
The fund stood at $90 billion in late 2014, but has come under increasing strain as Russia’s oil-dependent economy has suffered under falling energy prices. Russia has been somewhat cushioned to the fall in oil prices as the commodity is sold in dollars and exchanged into a devalued ruble; however, at these low levels for crude, the federal budget is still under extreme pressure.
(Excerpt) Read more at tsarizm.com ...
Upper Volta with nukes
Is this some sort of magical supply of money that is left over after government has spent all the money it wanted to?
How could that be? When did it ever happen that politicians spent less money than they collected?
Bummer.
Burn that cash, Russia, burn that cash.
It is basically reserves of foreign currency. Russia can obviously print all the rubles it wants, but if they need to import things from other countries they have to pay in Euros or dollars.
Upper Volta with nukes
Pretty much. Putinist Russia is a kleptocratic petrostate. There is no economy to speak of because his goons have robbed the country blind.
Time to peace up in Syria.
This isn’t the first time oil prices have tanked. What is it that is so much more damaging to Russia, Venezuela and others this time around?
If the recent spend rate continues, in 5.2 months Russia reserve is done. If the overall spend rate continues, there’s about 10 months. Then what?
“Report published last month by Moscow’s Higher School of Economics predicted that Russia’s reserve fund could be exhausted before the end of 2016 if energy prices failed to rise, while the country’s Finance Ministry has repeatedly warned that the fund could run out in 2017.
The government is expect to look to the national welfare fund, used for the long term protection of state pensions, as reserve levels run low. Russia’s Finance Ministry announced in July that it planned to spend $26 billion of the national welfare fund’s $72 billion between 2017 and 2019, again reports The Moscow Times.”
So, it looks like those public sector pension funds are Plan B.
>>This isn’t the first time oil prices have tanked. What is it that is so much more damaging to Russia, Venezuela and others this time around?<
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The late 80s oil price crash is what doomed the USSR, even more than Reagan’s Cold War pressures.
I am convinced both cases (then, and now) were planned by the globalists . . . and both were targeted at Russia (former USSR).
The idea that Saudi is doing it against American fracking is LUDICROUS. They do as they are TOLD by the globalists that keep them in Rolls Royces.
I believe this is happening way above Obama’s pay grade.
I didn't realize that Russia had a funded pension fund. So that could give them another 2 years. I suppose they're hoping for oil prices to rise in that time period.
However, from what I heard, they need $100 per barrel oil to fund the government. I also suppose they're fortunate to have at least a partially funded pension. From what I understand, Social Security is close to unfunded as foolish politicians have spent it, and increased life spans have increased the payout required.
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