Russia braces for oil price drop to $30 a barrel

At the meeting in Kazan on Saturday, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that he did not exclude the oil price drop to $30 a barrel in 2016, Joinfo.ua reports with reference to RIA.ru.

“Everything indicates that low oil prices are likely to dominate in the next year. And it is possible that for some periods it will drop to $30 per barrel. Therefore, we must prepare for difficult time for us,” – said Siluanov.

“Right after we adopted the budget, we saw that the situation with the macroeconomy did not change for the better: we put in budget the price of $50 per barrel. Now it is about $36-37. We need now to prepare backup options, which we would apply if the price would fall further, “- the minister added.

Yesterday, on the Moscow Stock Exchange, Russian ruble dropped below the psychological mark of 70 rubles a dollar, as earlier Brent fell below $38 a barrel for the first time since 2008.