The total expenses of Russian authorities due to the global financial crisis has been 5.6 trillion rubles (more than $200 billion), the World Bank estimates in its latest report on Russia, according to RIA Novosti. That report has yet to be published on the World Bank’s website. The Russian information agency reports that the World Bank has estimated that Russia has spent just 190 billion rubles of federal budget money, while the remainder was in quasi-fiscal expenses.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev mentioned a similar sum, $200 billion, on November 13 when he was speaking about the amount of funding Russia would allot to the real sector of the economy.
The World Bank has calculated that Russian oligarchs have lost more during the crisis than the government has. Their losses on the Russian stock market have been estimated at $300 billion. For comparison, the Russian federal budget for 2009-2011 approved by the State Duma and Federation Council amounts to 10.9 trillion rubles (almost $400 billion at the current exchange rate). The World Bank also noted that the net outflow of capital from Russia this year will come to $50 billion. It forecasts capital outflow of $100 billion next year. It also expects GDP growth to fall to 3 percent and inflation to come to 12 percent. |
