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The economic situation in January–March 2016 was determined by the inertia effect of the previous year's factors.

The Russian Ministry of Finance is developing a new version of the budgetary rule which will restrain the ruble strengthening under oil price fluctuations. This was stated by Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

The next rise in excise duties on petroleum products has led to an increase in stock prices for petroleum and diesel fuel.

The World Bank forecasts that by the end of 2016, the number of impoverished Russians will grow by 1 million and will reach 20.3 million people.

The past year was the first year of implementing the Forecast plan (program) of federal property privatization and the guidelines of federal property privatization for 2014–2016, approved by the Russian Government decree № 1111-p from 1 July 2013.

According to the 2015 results, capital investments in Russia amounted to Rb 14.56 trillion having decreased 8.4% in real terms.

At present, the integration potential of the EEU is not utilized to full capacity. The economies of the EEU member-states are not much integrated into global added value chains.

Russia’s Finance Ministry has proposed raising, from 1 April 2016, the excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuels by respectively 2 and 1 roubles a litre. According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov1, this will generate about Rb 80bn in tax revenues to the consolidated budget, whereas prices of refined petroleum products will see no growth.

Russia’s Finance Ministry has been commissioned by Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev to explore the possibility of introducing taxes on sugary drinks, palm oil and other unhealthy foods. The Finance Ministry has welcomed the initiative.

In development of anti-crisis measures, the government considers among other things the prospect of abolishment of insurance contributions from 2017 and return to the single social tax (SST) administered by the Federal Tax Service (FTS).

As the Gaidar Forum has shown, there are no illusions about the current economic situation either with the expert community or the government and that is a positive signal.

On 20 January, Brent oil prices (March futures) fell to $27.8 a barrel, the level which was observed last time 12 years ago. If it is compared to February 2012, prices on oil depreciated nearly 4 times over.

Russia’s budget must be adapted to the current economic situation, otherwise a spontaneous “fine-tuning” may hit the population through high inflation, as was the case during the crisis in 1998–1999, assumed Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at the 7th Gaidar Forum.

An expert discussion – “Islamic Finance: Problems in the Formation of the Industry” – was held at a Guidar Forum. The topic has proved relevant because it was discussed for two consecutive years.

In 2015, the Bank of Russia encountered a series of global challenges while pursuing the targets of its monetary policy. The economic situation in 2015 was characterized by the following features: Russian and Western bilateral sanctions were maintained, the prices of Russia’s basic export commodities kept falling, economic agents’ expectations for inflation remained high.

The WTO's 10th Ministerial Conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 15 to 19 December 2015 culminated in committing to eliminate subsidies for agricultural exports.