Russia says it can balance budget at oil price of US$82 per barrel

[MOSCOW] Russia can balance its budget at an oil price of US$82 per barrel, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

This year's budget is based on an oil price of US$50 per barrel, but Brent, the global benchmark, was trading at just US$31 on Wednesday. "Our budget will be balanced when the price is US$82 per barrel so there are still a lot of decisions to be made when it comes to budget policy," Mr Siluanov said.

He said that last year's budget deficit was around 2.6 per cent of gross domestic product.

REUTERS