Putin says Russia’s reserves in 2018 to be higher than expected

Reserves are used in the first instance due to dropped revenues from oil sales, Putin said. "We spent almost a trillion [rubles ($16.4 bln) - TASS] from the Reserve Fund. We thankfully keep the National Wealth Fund at the same level," the head of state said.

"We planned about 2.2-2.5 trillion [rubles ($36-41 bln) - TASS] will remain in our reserves by 2018 year-end; the figure will be higher. We have 6.6 trillion rubles ($107.9 bln) at the moment," the President said. "In particular, this is a safety cushion for us," he added.

The level of gold and currency reserves also deserves attention, the head of state said. "Indeed we have money; moreover, reserves have grown starting from this year. We had gold and currency reserves of the Central Bank about [$] 368 bln in the beginning and now there are almost $385.4 bln," Putin said.