MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. A fall in world oil prices will not require any adjustment to Russia’s budget, Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev said on Wednesday.
“Certainly, no adjustment will be required,” Ulyukayev told Rossiya-24 TV Chanel.
A fall in the price of oil, a major Russian export commodity, has caused the ruble to depreciate significantly in recent weeks. World oil prices have plunged from about $110 per barrel at the beginning of the year to about $80 per barrel.
The Russian budget is based on an oil price of $100 per barrel for its revenue part and $95 per barrel for budget expenditures but “it is the ruble-based price that is the most important thing for us,” Ulyukayev said.
“These are the sizes of export duties and their payments denominated in foreign currency and recalculated into rubles. From this viewpoint, nothing happens. The price was 3,600-3,700 rubles per barrel at the beginning of the year when a barrel cost over $110 and the exchange rate was 32-33 rubles per dollar and today we have the same 3,600-3,700 rubles with a barrel of about $80 and the exchange rate of 44-45 rubles per dollar,” the minister said.
“Our next year (budget) projections also take into account these ratios,” Ulyukayev said.