The Russian government will not need to borrow any money next year because of soaring global oil prices, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Monday.
Kudrin said the Russian government would not need to borrow any money in 2005 because of the large amount of cash already piling up in the state stabilization fund, the Moscow Times reported Monday. The finance minister said the greatly increased revenues were due to high global oil prices, it added.
World oil prices have now soared well above $45 a barrel and are at record heights, close to $50 a barrel due to a combination of soaring oil demand in Asia, led by China, continued serious fighting in Iraq, and growing tensions between the United States and Iran.
Russia is a prime beneficiary of the trend as it is one of the world's largest oil and natural gas producers and exporters.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
