Russia has lost quarter of liquid assets due to war in Ukraine - Bloomberg
In 2024, Russia spent almost 25% of the liquid reserves of its National Welfare Fund to support the economy in wartime and finance the invasion of Ukraine.
Bloomberg writes about this, Censor.NET reports.
According to the Russian Ministry of Finance, the total assets of the NWF remained at 12 trillion rubles ($117 billion), but liquid assets decreased by 24% to 3.8 trillion rubles ($39 billion).
Compared to the beginning of 2022, before the full-scale invasion, the fund's liquid reserves decreased by 57%.
The main reasons for this decrease were:
- Increased military spending;
- Covering the budget deficit, which required 1.3 trillion rubles ($12.7 billion) from the fund;
- Spending on large-scale infrastructure projects;
- Sanctions imposed that caused damage to the economy.
According to Bloomberg, despite the fact that oil and gas export revenues exceeded forecasts, the Kremlin had to spend significant reserves to stabilize the economy.
At the same time, it is estimated that the value of bonds issued to finance infrastructure projects has increased by 50% over the past year, and has quadrupled since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The October 2024 report of the Central Bank of Russia warns of the risks of complete depletion of the NWF by 2025. This scenario may be affected by external factors, including falling oil prices.
Earlier it was reported that the volume of the Russian National Welfare Fund, created under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, as of January 1, 2025, amounted to 11.88 trillion rubles or $116.84 billion in equivalent.
