The Russian economy has a good potential for coping with rising and declining oil prices, Deppler told Russia's Vremya Novostei paper.
In his words, Moscow has channeled a considerable part of surplus oil-sale proceeds into the stabilization fund over the last two years. Moreover, Russia uses this money to repay its external debts.
Russia has benefited from this reasonable macro-economic policy that must be maintained, Deppler went on to say. Moreover, he thinks that Russia should save all additional petro-dollars in case of higher oil prices until the macro-economic situation becomes more favorable. Or it should use this money for repaying external debts.
The IMF estimates that Russia's international reserves now exceed short-term debts by more than 250 percent. This will make it possible to compensate for short-term oil-price reductions or cushion their impact, Deppler noted.
At the same time, Russian financial authorities must continue to watch the macro-economic sphere more closely. This will help minimize possible negative consequences for corporate stability and that of financial institutions, in case oil prices come tumbling down.
