Russia's Reserve Fund Grew by 72.9%, National Welfare Fund by 51.3% in 2014

Russia's Finance Ministry reports that the country's Reserve Fund grew by 72.9 percent to top 4.94 trillion rubles year-on-year, while the National Welfare Fund increased by 51.3 percent to 4.388 trillion rubles in 2014.

MOSCOW, January 13 (Sputnik) — Russia's Reserve Fund grew by 72.9 percent to top 4.94 trillion rubles year-on-year, while the National Welfare Fund increased by 51.3 percent to 4.388 trillion rubles in 2014, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

"As of January 1, 2015, the amount of the Reserve Fund totaled 4 trillion, 945 billion and 490 million rubles which equals $87.91 billion," the ministry said in a report.

"The amount of the National Welfare Fund totaled 4 trillion, 388 billion and 90 million rubles which equals $78 billion," the report said.

At the beginning of 2014, the Reserve Fund totaled 2.86 trillion rubles and the National Welfare Fund totaled 2.9 trillion rubles.

The current growth of Russian sovereign funds has been largely caused by the weakening of the country's national currency.

In December 2014, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that Moscow would have to dip into the Reserve Fund, as the country's budget in 2015 is estimated to have extra expenditures of 500 billion rubles.

Russia is currently facing an economic slowdown, triggered by falling oil prices and an unstable geopolitical situation. Sanctions imposed by the West on Russia over its alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis are said to have also contributed to the country's economic slump.