Russian Hard Currency Reserves Allow To Avoid A Negative Effect Of Slumping Oil Prices

The Russian hard currency reserves make it possible to avoid a negative effect from the steep fall of the oil prices, believe Japanese experts. "The Russian economy depends on the dynamics of the oil prices, but their fall today will not cause any crisis in Russia," said Syunsuka Nakagawara, an Russian economy expert of the Japanese firm Mitsui Bussan, in an interview with RIA Novosti. "Nothing hampers the Russian government from using the hard currency reserves of 40 billion dollars at its disposal which are two and a half times more than the reserves of the Russian Federation on the eve of the financial and economic recession of 1998," said the expert. He expressed the opinion that Russia boasted sufficient hard currency reserves "to neutralise for at least a year or two the drop in the oil prices and to avoid the economic crisis." "Even the steepest fall in the oil prices today is unable to cause a crisis to Russia due to such an important factor as political stabilisation which we have been witnessing in the past few months," pointed out Minoru Usui, an expert on Russia and department chief in the NEC International Marketing Corporation.