Russian budget has extra $53 billion in free funds, pledges financial stability

MOSCOW – Russian government has over 4.5 trillion roubles ($53 billion) of freely available budget funds and has enough resources to secure macroeconomic stability and support companies hit by sanctions, it said.

Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, triggering a massive sell-off across Russian assets.

“Today, Russia has financial resources enough to maintain the financial system in the light of sanctions and external threats,” the government said in the statement on Thursday.

($1 = 85.5430 roubles)

(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Alison Williams)