The Head of Russia’s Center for Strategic Research (CSR), and ex-Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin, warned that the price of crude oil could slide below the psychological and financial support level of $55 in a year’s time.
“I’ve repeatedly said that the oil price will be hovering between $40 and $60 per barrel. Given the recent initiatives on the market I expect the (oil) price to be close to $55-56 per barrel within half a year, though it may still go down in about a year’s time,” he said in an interview with TASS.
Kudrin, who is valued by Putin as a financial advisor, also declared that the Russian government would keep its reserve and national wealth funds at present levels and may even grow them again from depleted levels.
“I think that now the National Wealth Fund won’t be intensively spent now because the government needs a reserve in case of serious decline in oil prices and for some new projects. This also concerns the Reserve Fund, due to the oil price. The oil price has reached this level and we have an understanding that the reserve fund will be at least maintained, and may even grow.”
Kudrin also reiterated his and Putin’s support for a national reserve fund.
“It saved us during every crisis, and we understand that crises may happen in the future. That is why they will keep it and will not spend it,” Kudrin said.
