diff --git a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/exec.rs b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/exec.rs
index 818a689f99d9080ced3fc298c8e975bb98dfd049..586ee3746b86929f6ebf9803cec9d16465b5ce7c 100644
--- a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/exec.rs
+++ b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/exec.rs
@@ -154,6 +154,9 @@ pub trait Ext {
 	/// Returns a reference to the timestamp of the current block
 	fn now(&self) -> &MomentOf<Self::T>;
 
+	/// Returns the minimum balance that is required for creating an account.
+	fn minimum_balance(&self) -> BalanceOf<Self::T>;
+
 	/// Returns a random number for the current block with the given subject.
 	fn random(&self, subject: &[u8]) -> SeedOf<Self::T>;
 
@@ -766,6 +769,10 @@ where
 		&self.timestamp
 	}
 
+	fn minimum_balance(&self) -> BalanceOf<T> {
+		self.ctx.config.existential_deposit
+	}
+
 	fn deposit_event(&mut self, topics: Vec<T::Hash>, data: Vec<u8>) {
 		self.ctx.deferred.push(DeferredAction::DepositEvent {
 			topics,
diff --git a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/mod.rs b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/mod.rs
index 99578fee2747f5623cb24e0f515c8d7a6ca4f25b..c623313824bcf88d21ad8dc1e8a20788e6511493 100644
--- a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/mod.rs
+++ b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/mod.rs
@@ -282,6 +282,10 @@ mod tests {
 			&1111
 		}
 
+		fn minimum_balance(&self) -> u64 {
+			666
+		}
+
 		fn random(&self, subject: &[u8]) -> H256 {
 			H256::from_slice(subject)
 		}
@@ -364,6 +368,9 @@ mod tests {
 		fn now(&self) -> &u64 {
 			(**self).now()
 		}
+		fn minimum_balance(&self) -> u64 {
+			(**self).minimum_balance()
+		}
 		fn random(&self, subject: &[u8]) -> H256 {
 			(**self).random(subject)
 		}
@@ -1176,6 +1183,65 @@ mod tests {
 		).unwrap();
 	}
 
+	const CODE_MINIMUM_BALANCE: &str = r#"
+(module
+	(import "env" "ext_minimum_balance" (func $ext_minimum_balance))
+	(import "env" "ext_scratch_size" (func $ext_scratch_size (result i32)))
+	(import "env" "ext_scratch_read" (func $ext_scratch_read (param i32 i32 i32)))
+	(import "env" "memory" (memory 1 1))
+
+	(func $assert (param i32)
+		(block $ok
+			(br_if $ok
+				(get_local 0)
+			)
+			(unreachable)
+		)
+	)
+
+	(func (export "call")
+		(call $ext_minimum_balance)
+
+		;; assert $ext_scratch_size == 8
+		(call $assert
+			(i32.eq
+				(call $ext_scratch_size)
+				(i32.const 8)
+			)
+		)
+
+		;; copy contents of the scratch buffer into the contract's memory.
+		(call $ext_scratch_read
+			(i32.const 8)		;; Pointer in memory to the place where to copy.
+			(i32.const 0)		;; Offset from the start of the scratch buffer.
+			(i32.const 8)		;; Count of bytes to copy.
+		)
+
+		;; assert that contents of the buffer is equal to the i64 value of 666.
+		(call $assert
+			(i64.eq
+				(i64.load
+					(i32.const 8)
+				)
+				(i64.const 666)
+			)
+		)
+	)
+	(func (export "deploy"))
+)
+"#;
+
+	#[test]
+	fn minimum_balance() {
+		let mut gas_meter = GasMeter::with_limit(50_000, 1);
+		let _ = execute(
+			CODE_MINIMUM_BALANCE,
+			vec![],
+			MockExt::default(),
+			&mut gas_meter,
+		).unwrap();
+	}
+
 	const CODE_RANDOM: &str = r#"
 (module
 	(import "env" "ext_random" (func $ext_random (param i32 i32)))
diff --git a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/runtime.rs b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/runtime.rs
index c6ef1bb3f561aea37d5527da9021b485a4ee4ed5..4baece3d9186a4d0642213f7768313a6b00022d8 100644
--- a/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/runtime.rs
+++ b/substrate/srml/contracts/src/wasm/runtime.rs
@@ -611,6 +611,16 @@ define_env!(Env, <E: Ext>,
 		Ok(())
 	},
 
+	// Stores the minimum balance (a.k.a. existential deposit) into the scratch buffer.
+	//
+	// The data is encoded as T::Balance. The current contents of the scratch buffer are
+	// overwritten.
+	ext_minimum_balance(ctx) => {
+		ctx.scratch_buf.clear();
+		ctx.ext.minimum_balance().encode_to(&mut ctx.scratch_buf);
+		Ok(())
+	},
+
 	// Decodes the given buffer as a `T::Call` and adds it to the list
 	// of to-be-dispatched calls.
 	//