A day after a top ratings agency cut Russia's rating to junk level, the government in Moscow on Tuesday announced a plan that will see the economy return to a budget surplus in 2017, AP reported. Standard & Poor's downgraded Russia's rating to BB-plus late on Monday, a non-investment grade, for the first time since 2004, citing a slide in the ruble and weakening revenue from oil exports. The agency said Russia's financial system is weakening, limiting room for maneuver for Russia's Central Bank. Russia's economy has been hit hard by the double impact of weaker energy prices and Western sanctions over its role in Ukraine.
