Keep your money in savings bank, not in foreign currency says Russian Ministry of Economic Development

The new head of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Alexei Ulyukayev, talked today about the best way for Russians to manage their financial savings.

First of all, the minister stressed that neither business nor the public has any reason to keep their savings in foreign currency. "I think my colleagues in the central bank are effectively moving to inflation targeting, to the free floating of the ruble. The present level of fluctuations are not below what they were a few years ago. Thus, neither the public and business have any incentive to convert their savings from rubles into a foreign currency and back," RIA Novosti quotes the minister.

Ulyukayev explained that the government, aware of the Bank of Russia's plans to move from 2015 onwards to prioritize the inflation target in the monetary policy of the Central Bank has reflected on the possibility of granting an additional mandate to support economic growth.

Uljukaev gave his forecast for oil prices: "The price of oil is a serious issue, as there have been global changes in the commodities market. It seems to me that the forecast price that we use now, $101 a barrel, is reasonable and very, very decent."