If the oil prices will stay at the level of $40 per barrel, the ruble exchange rate in the next three years will remain stable, the Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov stated during "Vesti on Saturday with Sergey Brilev" program.
"We are predicting the oil price at the level of about $40 per barrel in the next three years ... We also predict the ruble exchange rate based on this. The existing balance will not seriously change in the conditions of those oil prices that we expect," RBC quoted him as saying.
According to the minister, Russia's economy has already adapted to the current situation, and it will begin to grow by the end of the year. "In general, our economy has already adapted to the new conditions. Structural changes have occured... By the end of the year, according to our estimates, the economy will reach positive growth rates," Siluanov said.
Speaking about the changes that occurred in the country's economy, he reminded that just a few years ago it was dominated by export-oriented commodity sectors.
In an interview, he also addressed issues related to the budget. Siluanov acknowledged that keeping its deficit at 3% of GDP will be "a daunting task".
As the minister predicts, the federal budget revenues from excise taxes on alcoholic beverages will increase by 10% in 2016.
Finance Minister also informed that today, the government needs more than 100 billion rubles of additional revenue for the full implementation of measures under the plan to support the economy in 2016.
