Russia's Reserve Fund shrinks most in over four years as budget gap widens

Moscow

RUSSIA's Reserve Fund, one of the country's two sovereign wealth funds, dropped last month the most in more than four years as the government unsealed it to cover a widening budget deficit.

The value of the fund fell US$8 billion in February to US$77.1 billion, the lowest since Dec 2010, as the Finance Ministry used its maximum yearly allowance of 500 billion roubles (S$11 billion) for budget financing, according to a statement by the ministry on Tuesday.…