OREANDA-NEWS. April 2, 2009. Russia’s Reserve Fund totaled RUB 4.11 tn or USD 121.06 bn as of April 1, 2009, while the National Welfare Fund amounted to RUB 2.91 tn (USD 85.71 bn), the Russian finance ministry said in a press release.

It should be noted that this March USD 7.95 bn, ?5.97 bn and 1.23 bn pounds sterling were sold from the Reserve Fund and RUB 600 bn was bought at the official exchanges rates quoted by the Central Bank of Russia. In ruble terms, the fund’s resources were reduced by RUB 752 bn from RUB 4.86 tn and by USD 15.3 bn from USD 136.33 bn.

As of March 1, 2009 the National Welfare Fund totaled RUB 2.99 tn (USD 83.86 bn). A contraction in the Reserve Fund’s resources by more than RUB 600 bn (this action was planned to finance the budget deficit) and those of the National Welfare Fund is attributable to exchange rate fluctuations. Specifically, in March the positive exchange rate difference declined for the Reserve Fund by RUB 151.34 bn and by RUB 80.3 bn for the National Welfare Fund.