Updated 4:37 p.m. Moscow time
MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) -The Russian government could spend up to 1.5 trillion rubles (over $37 billion) in 2015-2017 to finance the federal budget in light of falling oil prices and the weakening of the national currency, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
"Our budget policy is facing several risks. We are expecting some 1.5 billion rubles, or almost half of the Reserve Fund, to be spent in the next three years [to counter those risks]," First Deputy Finance Minister Tatyana Nesterenko said.
Russia's Reserve Fund totals some 3.5 trillion rubles ($74 bln) as of September 2014.
Earlier on Monday, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that some 500 billion rubles ($12.4 billion) from the Reserve Fund may be spent in 2015 provided that the oil prices and the exchange rate of the US Dollar against Russian Ruble stay at the present levels.
The price for Russia's main export crude Urals fell to $90 per barrel in September. However, the draft budget for 2015 was planned according to a price of $100 per barrel.
Earlier in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia has enough reserves to implement all the tasks under the state budget regardless of global political and economic trends.
