Tanks of pro-Russian troops move on the street during the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in the town of Popasna in Luhansk region, Ukraine, May 26, 2022. REUTERS / Alexander Ermochenko
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May 27 (Reuters) – Russia needs huge financial resources for its military operation in Ukraine, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday, setting the budget stimulus for the economy at 8 trillion rubles ($ 120 billion).
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24, prompting the West to impose sanctions on Moscow, which has already inflated inflation to nearly 18 percent and pushed the country to the brink of recession.
“We need money, huge resources for the special operation,” Siluanov told a lecture at Moscow’s Financial University.
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President Vladimir Putin this week ordered a 10% increase in pensions and the minimum wage to protect Russians from inflation, but denied that all economic problems were related to what Russia called a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Read more
The measures will cost the federal budget about 600 billion rubles this year and about 1 trillion rubles in 2023, Siluanov said earlier this week.
In a television interview broadcast late Friday, Siluanov said Russia would receive up to 1 trillion rubles in additional oil and gas revenues this year, which will be used to pay increased social benefits.
Earlier Friday, Siluanov also defended capital controls and the freezing of assets for foreign investors from “hostile” countries that Moscow has imposed in response to Western sanctions.
“We will keep the investments made by foreigners from hostile countries in Russia in the same way that they will keep our gold and foreign exchange reserves,” Siluanov said, referring to the West’s move to freeze about $ 300 billion of Russia’s international reserves. . accumulated over the years.
Siluanov said restrictions on capital movements for foreign investors could remain in place until sanctions are lifted or reserves are thawed.
(1 dollar = 66.5790 rubles)
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Reuters report; Edited by Angus McSwon and Sandra Mahler
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