Brexit to Have Limited Impact on Russian Economy - Finance Minister

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The influence of Britain's exit from the European Union will be limited, although it may result in a further drop in oil prices, the weakening of the ruble and the increased volatility on financial markets, so the authorities should be prepared for negative scenarios in the development of global economy, Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Friday.

"Voting in the UK has shown that hopes for trouble-free restoration of markets and the world economy were overly optimistic. There are two key implications: a sharp increase in market volatility and uncertainty about the future development of the global economy," the minister told reporters.

On Thursday, the United Kingdom held a referendum to determine whether or not the country should leave the European Union. According to the final results, 51.9 percent of voters, or 17.4 million people, decided to support Brexit, while about 16.1 million opposed it.

"A positive vote shows that the world is not going steady along the path of globalization and world trade — key drivers of economic growth in recent decades. … The task of Russian economic policy is to be ready for negative scenarios in the development of the world economy, which means the need for conservative basis of planning," he added.

"For Russia, [Brexit] means a drop in oil prices, the weakening of the ruble, the increased volatility of the financial markets in the first place," he said.

However, according to Siluanov, this volatility triggered by Brexit is expected to be much less than that recently overcome by the Russian economy.

"The impact of this event will be limited," Siluanov pointed out.