The government's scramble to revise its budget.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered ministries to cut spending further, the government's website announced on January 15. The reductions will be "significantly more drastic" than in previous years, he said. The media reported earlier that the government was planning to cut 10% from the budget expenditure that parliament approved in November and President Vladimir Putin signed into law in December.
Continuing low oil prices will be the main obstacle to a balanced budgetary policy beyond 2016.
Reduced fixed capital investment and limited access to credit due to high interest rates will hamper a return to growth.
Domestic economic problems will continue to depress trade with other former Soviet states, especially those in the Eurasian Economic Union.
