A top Russian financial official says the country's Reserve Fund could be depleted if the current "negative tendencies" affecting the economy continue in 2015.
Russian Audit Chamber head Tatiana Golikova (eds: a woman) said in an interview on Tsentr TV on October 18 that if the Reserve Fund is tapped into due to plummeting oil prices and used to repay loans because of international sanctions prevent Russian banks from foreign credit, then it will "leave a hole" in the fund within two years.
The Reserve Fund was created in 2008 and is used by the government to fill in shortfalls in the budget when Russian oil and gas sales decline.
But Golikova said the Russian government has plans to increase state revenues and will implementing "import substitution" and improve infrastructure.
She added that there are "no threats" to the 2015 budget.
