Kudrin admits oil price could fall to $16-18/barrel

The ex-Minister of Finance, A. Kudrin, thinks that oil prices might fall to $16-18/barrel. Today we have a number of factors working for the price fall. And we don’t know what the minimum point will be. It will be lower than what we see today. It might reach $18, even $16. But not for a long while. Then the price will be corrected and will go up. But we seem not to have reached the minimum point, Mr. Kudrin said.

He said that the Russian economy might return to the growth in the coming 2 years. Within a year-two the economy will turn to positive results, he said. A timely forming of federal reserves, low level of Government debt and a flexible rouble’s rate will allow the Russian economy to quickly get used to the current conditions, he added.

Kommersant reported that in late January the annual inflation might fell below 10%. Though the general demand fall covers the pressure of the rouble’s devaluation on prices, the inflation target of the Bank of Russia at 4% in 2017 might prove a failure. Experts of Reuters think that on Jan 29th in case of the rouble’s rate of 80-90 roubles/$ at the meeting of the Board of the Bank of Russia, the regulator will have to increase the key rate.