The lower house of the RF parliament, the State Duma, passed in the second and third readings the bill authorizing VEB to use funds of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) for granting credits to Russia’s companies. The credits will go to pay off or service foreign loans raised before September 25, 2008, RIA Novosti reported.
The State Duma has passed in the second and third readings today the Bill On Additional Actions to Sustain the RF Financial System. The purpose to attain is to rescue Russia’s companies that borrowed too much overseas and that are unable to refinance loans because of the global financial crisis.
Russia’s oil giants have addressed for help already. LUKOIL alone counts on getting from $2 billion to $5 billion from the government.
Under the bill, the Central Bank of Russia will place $50 billion with VEB for a year. The funds will be spent for crediting private companies and banks.
The lawmakers have amended the bill since the first reading. They suggested depositing money of National Welfare Fund with VEB till December 31, 2019 at the rate of 7 percent a year. The maximum amount to be funneled to VEB equals 450 billion ruble. |
