The Russian government will soon announce new anti-crisis measures, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said today. “Additional measures will be taken by the government to stabilize economic situation in the industrial sector, in the regions of Russia and in the social sphere,” he stressed.
There are also plans to support employment programs. The Finance Ministry is keeping an eye on job cuts. Training and skills development programs could be of help, and the government is ready to finance them, according to Kudrin.
A series of meetings between government officials and top managers from various industries, which are chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, will be over by the end of next week. “We are analyzing the situation, and we will present a fuller picture at the end of next week,” Kudrin promised.
He also said that the Central Bank had deposited about RUB 1.2 trillion (approx. $43.5bn) of temporary idle budget funds with commercial banks. The Central Bank raised the limit for such deposits to RUB 3.5 trillion (approx. $43.5bn). Earlier it stood at RUB 1.5 trillion (approx. $54.3bn), and currently it is RUB 400 billion (approx. $14.5bn) “as the Central Bank has taken most of the burden.” “We have been able to support our country’s financial system,” the minister emphasized.
State banks will increase their lending to the real sector over the next few months, according to Kudrin. “The situation has stabilized, depositors are not so nervous, and banks will pay more attention to supporting the real sector,” he told reporters.
On the whole, the liquidity situation in the country is improving, and a number of private banks expressed readiness to issue subordinated loans. “The government will co-finance them,” Kudrin pledged, specifying that 50 percent would be funded by the government and the other 50 by private banks.
Vnesheconombank has received new powers regarding the Investment Fund. The bank, Kudrin said, would play a greater role as a consultant and expert in assessing the business plans of projects applying for co-financing from the Investment Fund. Vnesheconombank will also control the implementation of such plans.
Among other things, the government plans measures aimed at creating more flexible mechanisms for approving projects co-financed from the Investment Fund.
The combined worth of projects to be co-financed from the Investment Fund is RUB 877 billion (approx. $31.8bn), of which RUB 436 billion (approx. $15.8bn) represents projects on which agreements have been signed and work has been started. According to the 2009 budget, the Investment Fund will be worth RUB 156 billion (approx. $5.65bn) in 2009, Kudrin said. |
