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Putin says Russia’s reserves in 2018 to be higher than expected

Reserves are used in the first instance due to dropped revenues from oil sales

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. The amount of the safety cushion of Russia’s reserves will be higher in 2018 than expected earlier, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday at the meeting with parliament members.

Reserves are used in the first instance due to dropped revenues from oil sales, Putin said. "We spent almost a trillion [rubles ($16.4 bln) - TASS] from the Reserve Fund. We thankfully keep the National Wealth Fund at the same level," the head of state said.

"We planned about 2.2-2.5 trillion [rubles ($36-41 bln) - TASS] will remain in our reserves by 2018 year-end; the figure will be higher. We have 6.6 trillion rubles ($107.9 bln) at the moment," the President said. "In particular, this is a safety cushion for us," he added.

The level of gold and currency reserves also deserves attention, the head of state said. "Indeed we have money; moreover, reserves have grown starting from this year. We had gold and currency reserves of the Central Bank about [$] 368 bln in the beginning and now there are almost $385.4 bln," Putin said.

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