Finance Ministry, CBR to add liquidity to market if needed - Putin
SOCHI. Aug 9 (Interfax) - The Russian Finance Ministry and Central Bank of Russia will in the case of necessity inject liquidity into the Russian market, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during a press conference after talks with his Finnish counterpart Jyrki Katainen.
"We in Russia think it necessary to follow liquidity carefully. The Finance Ministry and Central Bank are monitoring the situation. If needed, then by various channels the Central Bank and Finance Ministry will add the necessary volume of liquidity," Putin said.
Putin said that on Tuesday, for example, the Finance Ministry had placed 40 billion rubles in temporarily free budget funds.
Russia continues to reduce its budget deficit, Putin said. "The budget deficit this year will be 1.5% of GDP or even less," the prime minister said.
And the country's labor market has virtually recovered, he added.
The level of state debt in Russia is a little over 10% of GDP, and foreign debt represents just 3% of GDP, Putin said.