Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/262

232 well as the foreign markets, yielded 6,129,000,000 roubles, or 59.5 per cent of the total war expenses. The rest of the money needed for war operations was obtained by special issues of paper money, the amount issued being equal to 3,232,000,000 roubles.

The Russian agency for the issue of paper money is the State Bank, and the amount of its issue is authorized by the government. It is usually kept well within the limits of the gold reserve, so that ordinarily the money market of Russia presents a condition of considerable stability, even when compared with the countries of Western Europe. The following table shows the condition of the Russian paper money market with reference to the country's gold reserve, as compared with the same conditions in the countries of Western Europe.

Thus, at the end of the first year of the War, England alone was able to maintain the system of redemption of her paper money. The other countries, including Russia, were compelled to discontinue redemption. In the meantime, the War continued and its expenses had to be met. The issue limits of the State Bank were soon reached, and it became imperative to extend them. By the end of 1915, these limits were increased by 3,200,000,000 roubles, so that the report of the State Bank for February 21, 1916, shows the amount of paper money in circulation as 5,775,656,000. During this period, the gold reserve of the bank shows a decrease, as compared with the figure in the table; its amount is 1,621,368,000 roubles.