Back in 2004, Russia began putting extra revenue from oil sales into what was initially called the Stabilization Fund – a rainy day fund designed to serve as a budgetary reserve if energy prices dropped precipitously. Four years later, the Stabilization Fund was split in two.
One part is the Reserve Fund, which is invested in low-yield foreign securities and whose mission is to ensure federal budget financing in case oil and gas budget revenues declined. The other part is the National Wealth Fund, whose mission is to support Russia’s pension system. Both are funded by oil and natural gas sales.
In …read more
Source: Voice of America
