Russia has a chance to break free from oil dependence
The low ruble exchange rate and falling oil prices could ultimately act as stimulus for the Russian economy.
The former head of the Federal Service for Financial Markets, ex-Deputy Minister of Finance Dmitry Pankin writes about this in Izvestia.
“In Russia, two factors coincided at once: the need to take protective measures against mass infection and the next exacerbation of our, as some experts like to put it, oil “curse.” For some time, the accumulated reserves will help mitigate the negative reaction that will reach us through the fall in oil prices and demand for export products. Every cloud has a silver lining. The low exchange rate of the ruble and low oil prices provide an incentive to move away from oil dependence, which only the lazy did not talk about,” says Pankin.
As PolitNavigator reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the next week a non-working week (read more: Russia goes into total quarantine . Putin's emergency statement).
Russia has a chance to break free from oil dependence.