Russia's parliament rushes through bill boosting banking capital

[MOSCOW] Russia's lower house of parliament passed on Friday a draft law that would give the banking sector a capital boost of up to 1 trillion roubles (S$21.7 billion).

The State Duma said on its website it had passed the bill in all three required readings - speeding up a process which can sometimes see bills languish in parliament for weeks. It will now need to be passed by the upper house of parliament and then signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

The draft law is seen as a response to a dramatic slide in the rouble and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, which have eroded banks' capital adequacy ratios and driven their cost of funding sharply higher.

REUTERS