An economic crisis plan that Russia just adopted won't require any more budget spending than was already planned, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Tuesday, according to Reuters. "No increase in budget expenditures is envisaged," Siluanov said. On Monday, Russia approved a package of emergency measures to deal with what it acknowledges is an economic crisis brought on by falling oil prices and Western sanctions imposed as a result of the Ukraine conflict. First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said on Jan. 21 the plan would include steps to re-capitalise banks and subsidies to help industrial enterprises, farmers and small business. The total cost is put at 1.375 trillion roubles ($21 billion). Siluanov said that part of the cost would be paid from a 193 billion-rouble budgetary reserve already factored into this year's budget calculations. Some funds would also come from reduced spending on existing government programmes, he said. Shuvalov had said that as well as some funding from the federal budget, the anti-crisis plan would also be financed from the state's National Wealth Fund, an $80 billion sovereign fund that had been earmarked to fund major infrastructure projects.
