Finance ministry to use 1.8 tln rbl from Reserve Fund in 2017

MOSCOW, Feb 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian Finance Ministry has reserved the right to use 1.8 trillion rubles from the Reserve Fund, as planned in the budget for 2017, Minister Anton Siluanov said at a meeting of the ministry on Tuesday.

“We reserve the right to use the money of the Reserve Fund (and the National Wealth Fund) to the extent envisaged by the budget, 1.8 trillion rubles. Nevertheless, we will participate on the foreign exchange market in the form of purchase with the additional income which we will get (from the oil price rise),” Siluanov said.

“Maybe a situation will occur when we will have to use the money of the Reserve Fund with a simultaneous purchase of foreign currency on the foreign exchange,” the minister said.

He said that the purchased foreign currency will replenish the Reserve Fund at the beginning of 2018 under the current legislation.

The Finance Ministry said it will acquire a 6.3 billion ruble equivalent of foreign currency daily from Tuesday till March 6 and spend the entire windfall revenue from energy sales planned for February, or 113.1 billion rubles

Earlier in January, President Vladimir Putin supported a government idea to spend any windfall energy revenue to replenish the Reserve Fund and the National Wealth Fund in 2017. The revenue will be considered windfall if the oil price exceeds U.S. $40 per barrel, the official forecast.

(58.7121 rubles – U.S. $1)

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