MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian economy has shown itself to be highly adaptable to shocks on the global oil market, the country's Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Wednesday.
Speaking at a plenary session of the State Duma, he pointed out that Russia had recently experienced two waves of oil-related shocks. The first was triggered by a sharp decline in prices on the world market, which precipitated a sharp devaluation of the national currency that in turn led to a rise in inflation and an economic recession. The second wave did not cause a further devaluation of the ruble while the annual inflation rate dropped to below 8 percent with GDP dynamics ranging in recent months between +0.1 percent and —0.1 percent.
"This means that the Russian economy under the current conditions has shown a high degree of adaptability. We were able to reduce costs, managed to focus on the major priorities and make use of factors that had not been used before," Ulyukayev said.
Global oil prices plunged from $115 to less than $30 per barrel between June 2014 and January 2016, hitting their lowest levels since 2003 amid an ongoing glut in global oil supply. The slump has caused significant financial problems for many oil exporting countries.
