Russia to remove US dollars from National Wealth Fund's structure

ST. PETERSBURG, Jun 3 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Finance Ministry will change the structure of the National Wealth Fund in a month by cutting the share of U.S. dollars to zero from 35% and expanding the share of other currencies and gold, Minister Anton Siluanov said in a news briefing on Thursday during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“We made a decision to reduce investment of the National Wealth Fund’s money in U.S. dollar assets just like the central bank. Today, the structure has about 35% of the fund invested in dollars and 35% in euros, but we decided to withdraw the dollar assets completely replacing dollar investment with an increase in euros and an increase in gold,” he said.

The share of U.S. dollars in the fund will be cut to zero in a month, while the share of euros will rise to 40% from 35%, the share of Chinese yuan will amount to 30%, of gold to 20%, and of British pounds and Japanese yen to 5% each, he said.

The ministry also expects the federal budget’s deficit to stand at about 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021 against 2.4% expected previously if the economic situation and the external background remain relatively the same, he said.

Siluanov also said that the government was considering options to prolong the program of cheap mortgage loans to individuals at 6.5% annually with adjusted parameters. A decision will be be made soon, he said.

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