Russian budget no longer dependent on oil prices

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced at the Sochi Economic Forum that his government had developed a budget that is not dependent on global oil prices.

“The [global economic] crisis showed that if a country is too dependent on the prices of a single commodity, it is vulnerable in the face of instability. We were able to create a budget that is not dependent on oil prices. This was a difficult decision, but it has been made and we will abide by it,” he said.

Medvedev emphasized that windfall revenues from energy exports will be stored as reserves.

Until now, the Russian budget had been based on oil prices. Usually one “primary” budget was developed each year and two additional ones based on “optimistic” and “pessimistic” predictions of the price of oil. While the latter two did not have any legal weight, the Ministry of Finance had insisted on their development.

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