Page 51 - RUSRptSept18

Moscow was seventh and tenth in 2016/2017 and 2014/2015 ratings, respectively, he added.
6.0 Public Sector 6.1 Budget
Russia's budget surplus reached RUB435bn ($6.5bn) in July , boosted by a nearly 50% y/y increase in revenues. Meanwhile, expenditures rose just 21%.
A breakdown shows that oil and gas revenues jumped 80% y/y , which is attributable to higher oil prices and the weaker ruble. Non-oil and gas revenues also showed growth, rising almost 35% y/y.
The accumulated budget surplus thus reached RUB1.38 trln in 7m18
(2.5% of GDP), with revenues up 25% to RUB10.5 trln and expenditures up only 5% to RUB9.1 trln.
Analysts expect the budget to end the year with a surplus of 2.2% of GDP; however, should the ruble remain pressured throughout the rest of the year, the surplus could be even higher.
Russia Inc will be in profit this year with a budget surplus of between 1.5%-2% of GDP, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said on August 13.
Previously the Ministry of Finance forecasted a deficit and has run deficits for the last four years. The better than expected budget result is due to higher oil prices. Oil has been averaging over $65 per barrel each month for the four months of this year and over $75 for the last three months. At the same time the breakeven price of oil for the budget to turn a profit has fallen to $53 per barrel according to Renaissance Capital’s calculations.
"The budget surplus is growing. I would like to say that instead of the
51 RUSSIA Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com