(Reuters) – Russia’s National Wealth Fund (NWF) stood at the equivalent of $154.5 billion as of April 1, Russia’s finance ministry said on Wednesday, up from $147.2 billion on March 1.
The finance ministry said the sovereign wealth fund was equivalent in value to 7.9% of Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP), up from 7.4% a month earlier.
The NWF is a rainy-day fund built up from years of profits on oil and gas exports.
The finance ministry said it had spent 137.1 billion roubles ($1.72 billion) of yuan and gold from the NWF during March to cover the government’s budget deficit. ($1 = 79.4950 roubles)
(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Jake Cordell; Editing by Kevin Liffey)