NWF replenishment in 2025 could be less than planned if current external situation persists - Siluanov

MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) - The National Wealth Fund (NWF) by the end of 2025 could be replenished by less than the planned 1.8 trillion rubles if the current external situation and the ruble exchange rate persist, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

"When we planned the budget, we included a provision for our oil and gas balance, bearing in mind the following: this year we will aim to replenish the NWF by 1.8 trillion rubles. What will happen if oil prices are lower than our forecast? This means that our financial safety cushion will be replenished by a little less," he said in an interview with Rossiya-24.

He also said that in the first months of the current year, the NWF had already been replenished by 200 billion rubles.

"If this situation continues, such a price situation, in terms of oil prices, exchange rate correlations, then we will get through the year in approximately these parameters. That is, the National Wealth Fund will be replenished, but perhaps not in the volumes planned in the budget," Siluanov said.

There is "nothing dreadful" about this, he said. "Our most important task is to ensure funding for priority goals and development," he said.