MOSCOW: Russia’s current account surplus shrank to $25.2 billion in January-July, an 85 percent decrease compared with the same period last year, the central bank said on Wednesday, but up slightly from the figure for the first six months of the year.
Russia’s current account surplus hit a record high in 2022, helped by a fall in imports and robust oil and gas exports that kept foreign money flowing in despite Western efforts to isolate the Russian economy over the conflict in Ukraine.
But oil and gas revenues, the lifeblood of Russia’s economy, have slumped 41.4 percent year-on-year in the first seven months, which the Finance Ministry has put down to lower prices for Urals crude and lower natural gas export volumes.
The current account, a measure of the difference between all money coming into a country through trade, investment and transfers and what flows back out, had recorded a $165.4 billion surplus in January-July 2022.
The central bank has blamed this year’s rouble weakening on a drop in exports and a sharp recovery in imports, with the Russian currency down around 28 percent in the year to date, adding to already intense inflationary pressure.
The bank said a 68.4 percent drop in the trade surplus year-on-year had played a decisive role in the overall slump.
The central bank forecasts the 2023 current account surplus at $26 billion, sharply down from last year’s $227 billion.
Russia’s budget deficit for January-July widened to 2.82 trillion rubles ($29.3 billion), preliminary Finance Ministry data showed on Tuesday, or 1.8 percent of gross domestic product.
