Besides the army and navy, fiscal stability is key to the country\u2019s economic growth and people\u2019s well-being, Anton Siluanov has said<\/p>\n
Fiscal stability is a key \u201cally\u201d of Russia, alongside the country\u2019s army and navy, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told a forum in Moscow on Thursday.
\nThe remark was a nod to the saying \u201cRussia has only two allies: its army and its navy,\u201d most famously attributed to Tsar Alexander III, which reflects the country\u2019s geopolitical perspective emphasizing self-reliance and military strength over foreign alliances.
\nFinancial stability hinges on reducing the government\u2019s exposure to oil price swings, Siluanov explained. To this end, the minister announced a measure to shield the federal budget from Western sanctions targeting Russian energy exports which have been imposed over the Ukraine conflict.
\nThe plan is to gradually lower the per-barrel cost of oil at which the Russian federal budget is not operating at a deficit, which is known as the cut-off price.
\n\u201dIf you recall, it is $60 per barrel today, and by 2030 we plan to reduce it to $55. Each year the budget\u2019s dependence on oil and gas will fall by one dollar,\u201d Siluanov explained, adding that that would bring the share of respective revenues in the budget down to 22%.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Bank of Russia governor dismisses talk of recession<\/p>\n
Siluanov also described the budget policy as an effort to make the state\u2019s finances \u201cmore muscular,\u201d and capable of withstanding external pressures. The goal is to ensure that sanctions, trade wars and swings in global commodity prices are absorbed by the system and go \u201cabsolutely unnoticed\u201d by ordinary Russians, he said.
\nThe comments comes as the EU is discussing its 19th sanctions package, which would reportedly target Russia\u2019s oil export infrastructure, including ports and terminals, as well as companies linked to transporting and insuring shipments.
\nThe previous package, adopted in July, lowered the price cap on Russian crude to about $47.60 per barrel and introduced a ban on petroleum products refined from the oil in third countries and re-exported under different labels.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Russia and China planning clearinghouse to avoid West \u2013 Moscow<\/p>\n
The US has been pressuring the EU to cut Russian oil imports, which it claims could bring an end to the Ukraine conflict. Brussels has pledged to phase out fossil fuel imports from the country by 2027, but Hungary and Slovakia, which remain heavily dependent on pipeline supplies, have resisted tougher curbs, exposing divisions within the bloc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Besides the army and navy, fiscal stability is key to the country\u2019s economic growth and people\u2019s well-being, Anton Siluanov has said Fiscal stability is a key \u201cally\u201d of Russia, alongside…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t