Russia expects to record a budget surplus of 1.08 trillion rubles (US$44 billion) reaped from strong oil and gas revenues this year and to weather stormy global markets with aplomb, officials said on Monday.
Russia, one of the world's major emerging markets, has not been immune to the peaks and plunges that have plagued other stock markets in recent weeks, but the fluctuations have been less extreme -- something Russian President Vladimir Putin noted with apparent satisfaction in a Cabinet meeting.
"I noticed that [on Friday] all the world's trading places were in the minus, except Russia's," he said. "Russia's was up 2.2 percent."
But that upward bump up on the benchmark RTS index took place before US markets took a fall late on Friday. On Monday, the RTS dropped about 2.5 percent, apparently in reaction to even bigger market drops in Asia that in turn were triggered by concerns about the US economy.
Record-high oil prices have brought revenue pouring into Russia, which has in turn fueled other investments.
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov told the government budget commission that overall revenues are expected to be 1.4 trillion rubles higher this year compared with last year, leaving a vast surplus even with planned increases in wages and in Russia's notoriously stingy pensions, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Economics Minister Elvira Nabiullina told the Cabinet meeting that the economy is seeing soaring demand in the retail sector -- some 17 percent higher last month compared with a year ago -- and that housing indicators also are strong.
The figures "allow us to say that the fundamental factors of the growth of the Russian economy are sufficiently strong to support growth and to hope that the Russian market will be sufficiently stable in relation to the world financial crisis," she said, according a meeting transcript released by the Kremlin.
Amid the boom, inflation remains a concern. The economics ministry has forecast that inflation will reach 12 percent this year and on Monday revised its prognosis for next year upward, saying inflation that year would likely be 5.8 percent to 7 percent.
Also on Monday, the Agriculture Ministry announced that major Russian food retailers would extend price freezes on basic food products to May 1, beyond the current agreement that expires tomorrow.
Some of Russia's largest food retailers and processors are included in the list of companies participating in the freeze.
The freeze on bread, milk, cooking oil and eggs is aimed at taming inflation, but some economists and analysts have criticized it as a return to Soviet-style price controls intervention.
Others said the government was trying to avoid angering Russian voters ahead of last month's parliamentary elections and the presidential vote in March.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective