Page 41 - RUSRptOct18

5.0 External Sector & Trade 5.1 External sector overview
Bank of Russia balance of payments data show that Russia recorded a goods surplus of $46bn in the second quarter of 2018, the highest level since mid-2014 and 83% higher than in April-June last year.
Russia exported $36bn worth of goods and imported $20bn worth.
The current-account surplus stood at $22.3bnin the first half, compared with just $1.9bn over the same period of 2017. The main driver of this was higher crude oil prices, which were 37% up on average compared with the second quarter of 2017.
This has also given a significant boost to federal budget revenues. These were up 20% year-over-year in the first half, while spending increased by 3%, putting the budget on course for a budget surplus in 2018.
The second quarter also saw impressive growth in export volumes of other products – ferrous metals by 26%, gas by 18%, and wheat by a massive 88%.
41 RUSSIA Country Report October 2018 www.intellinews.com