Deputy finance minister: Russia not to change its budget rule

LONDON, Jun 25 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Finance Ministry is not considering changing the budget rule despite the central bank’s suggestion, Deputy Minister Vladimir Kolychev told reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of a Bloomberg conference.

“The budget rule will not change,” he said.

Under the budget code, all oil and gas revenue of the budget generated by the oil price above the cut-off threshold, which stood at U.S. $40 per barrel in 2017 and is raised by 2% each year, is transferred into the National Wealth Fund. The code also allows the government to invest money of the fund in financial instruments if the fund’s amount exceeds 7% of gross domestic product (GDP).

Earlier in June 2019, Central Bank’s Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said that the authorities should analyze whether the 7% threshold is adequate to fight a rapid and long-term worsening of external conditions.

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