Russia faces recession, as oil prices continue to drop
The Russian finance minister has warned that the country’s economy could plunge into a new recession.
"We are losing around $40bn [£26bn] per year due to geopolitical sanctions and we are losing some $90bn to $100bn per year due to oil prices falling 30%," Anton Siluanov was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
The price of Brent crude has fallen by as much as 30% since reaching a peak of $115 a barrel in June and Siluanov warned that Russian economy would fall into recession if the price of oil dropped to $60 a barrel and tension intensified.
Earlier in November, Russian president Vladimir Putin had suggested the decline in oil prices was part of a meticulous strategy carried out by political forces.
“The obvious reason for the decline in global oil prices is the slowdown in the rate of [global] economic growth which means consumption is being reduced in a whole range of countries,” Putin said.
“A political component is always present in oil prices. Furthermore, at some moments of crisis it starts to feel like it is the politics that prevails in the pricing of energy resources.”