Russia to merge its National Welfare Fund and Reserve Fund

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announced on Friday that Moscow plans to merge the National Welfare Fund and the Reserve Fund, though the timetable for this change remains unclear. Siluanov first announced the Finance Ministry’s proposal to the government on June 19.

• The National Welfare Fund and the Reserve Fund were created in 2008 using oil and gas revenue. The Russian government annually replenishes the Reserve Fund with a specified amount of money and transfers the remaining oil and gas revenues (if there are any) to the National Welfare Fund.
• On June 1, 2017, the Reserve Fund’s balance was 932.7 billion rubles ($16.5 billion) and the National Welfare Fund stood at 4.2 trillion rubles ($74.2 billion). The Reserve Fund is expected to be entirely depleted by 2018, though officials say some of the money can be replenished, if the price of oil Remains above $50 per barrel. On June 30, at the time of this writing, that price stands at $47.99.