This post first appeared on Russia Insider
From January through till August 2014 the Russian Federal Government posted a 2% to GDP budget surplus. This means that Russia this year will post its highest budget surplus since 2007.
Furthermore, regional budgets posted a surplus of 3.2% which is significant given that there had been some worries about the fiscal sustainability of the regions. Clearly these concerns were exaggerated.
From a "balance sheet" point of view, Russia has never been healthier after it revealed that Federal Government debt was 121 billion dollars, or around 6% of GDP. This compares very favourably to the around 100% debt to GDP of almost all Western nations, and even the 30% debt to GDP of China. On top of essentially no debt, Russia also has several sovereign wealth funds with over 200 billion dollars in assets and central bank reserves of 500 billion dollars.
The take-away is simple; Russia's sovereign financial position is the healthiest amongst the major industrialised economies.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
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