Oil Drop Outpacing Ruble Strains Russia Budget: Chart of the Day
This article is for subscribers only.
Russia’s budget deficit plans are increasingly strained as the drop in oil prices outpaces the concurrent ruble slide stoked by U.S. and European sanctions.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows the price of Brent oil, expressed in rubles, dropping below the level envisaged in the government’s 2015 budget. Even as crude tumbled, Russia’s budget has been shielded by the ruble, whose depreciation increases the local-currency value of exported oil and gas.