|
Budget
>
Expenditures
|
$326.40 million
Ranked 20th.
|
$418.00 billion
Ranked 12th.
1281 times more
than
Holy See (Vatican City)
|
|
|
Budget
>
Expenditures
>
Per capita
|
$433,009.71
per capita
Ranked 1st.
234 times more
than
Russia
|
$1,853.19
per capita
Ranked 63th.
|
|
|
Budget
>
Revenues
|
$308.00 million
Ranked 191st.
|
$416.80 billion
Ranked 12th.
1353 times more
than
Holy See (Vatican City)
|
|
|
Budget
>
Revenues
>
Per capita
|
$431,432.04
per capita
Ranked 1st.
204 times more
than
Russia
|
$2,114.90
per capita
Ranked 58th.
|
|
|
Currency
|
euro
|
Russian ruble
|
|
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Overview
|
The Holy See is supported financially by a variety of sources, including investments, real estate income, and donations from Catholic individuals, dioceses, and institutions; these help fund the Roman Curia (Vatican bureaucracy), diplomatic missions, and media outlets. Moreover, an annual collection taken up in dioceses and from direct donations go to a non-budgetary fund, known as Peter's Pence, which is used directly by the Pope for charity, disaster relief, and aid to churches in developing nations. Donations increased between 2010 and 2011. The separate Vatican City State budget includes the Vatican museums and post office and is supported financially by the sale of stamps, coins, medals, and tourist mementos; by fees for admission to museums; and by publication sales. Its revenues increased between 2010 and 2011 because of expanded opening hours and a growing number of visitors. However, the Holy See has not escaped the financial difficulties engulfing other European countries; in 2012 it started a spending review to determine where to cut costs to reverse its 2011 budget deficit of 15 million euros. Most public expenditures go to wages and other personnel costs; the incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome.
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Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference. In 2011, Russia became the world's leading oil producer, surpassing Saudi Arabia; Russia is the second-largest producer of natural gas; Russia holds the world's largest natural gas reserves, the second-largest coal reserves, and the eighth-largest crude oil reserves. Russia is also a top exporter of metals such as steel and primary aluminum. Russia's reliance on commodity exports makes it vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the volatile swings in global prices. The government since 2007 has embarked on an ambitious program to reduce this dependency and build up the country's high technology sectors, but with few visible results so far. The economy had averaged 7% growth in the decade following the 1998 Russian financial crisis, resulting in a doubling of real disposable incomes and the emergence of a middle class. The Russian economy, however, was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up. According to the World Bank the government's anti-crisis package in 2008-09 amounted to roughly 6.7% of GDP. The economic decline bottomed out in mid-2009 and the economy began to grow again in the third quarter of 2009. High oil prices buoyed Russian growth in 2011-12 and helped Russia reduce the budget deficit inherited from 2008-09. Russia has reduced unemployment to a record low and has lowered inflation below double digit rates. Russia joined the World Trade Organization in 2012, which will reduce trade barriers in Russia for foreign goods and services and help open foreign markets to Russian goods and services. At the same time, Russia has sought to cement economic ties with countries in the former Soviet space through a Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, and, in the next several years, through the creation of a new Russia-led economic bloc called the Eurasian Economic Union. Russia has had difficulty attracting foreign direct investment and has experienced large capital outflows in the past several years, leading to official programs to improve Russia's international rankings for its investment climate. Russia's adoption of a new oil-price-based fiscal rule in 2012 and a more flexible exchange rate policy have improved its ability to deal with external shocks, including volatile oil prices. Russia's long-term challenges also include a shrinking workforce, rampant corruption, and underinvestment in infrastructure.
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|
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Exchange rates
|
euros (EUR) per US dollar -<br />0.78 (2012 est.)<br />0.72 (2011 est.)<br />0.76 (2010 est.)<br />0.72 (2009 est.)<br />0.68 (2008 est.)
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Russian rubles (RUB) per US dollar -<br />30.84 (2012 est.)<br />29.38 (2011 est.)<br />30.37 (2010 est.)<br />31.74 (2009)<br />24.85 (2008)
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Fiscal year
|
calendar year
|
calendar year
|
|
|
Industries
|
printing; production of coins, medals, postage stamps; mosaics and staff uniforms; worldwide banking and financial activities
|
complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; defense industries including radar, missile production, and advanced electronic components, shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts
|
|
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Labor force
|
2
Ranked 206th.
|
75
Ranked 51st.
38 times more
than
Holy See (Vatican City)
|
|
|
Labor force per thousand people
|
2.38
Ranked 5th.
4529 times more
than
Russia
|
0.000526
Ranked 102nd.
|
|
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Trade
>
Exports to US
|
$200,000.00
Ranked 195th.
|
$2.17 billion
Ranked 27th.
10870 times more
than
Holy See (Vatican City)
|
|
|
Trade balance with US
|
$500,000.00
Ranked 89th.
|
$-1,680,000,000.00
Ranked 206th.
|
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