Russia unveils anti-crisis spending plan as EU, US work on more penalties

Brussels

RUSSIA has announced a US$35 billion "anti-crisis" spending plan on Wednesday to bail out an economy battered by Western sanctions and falling oil prices, but gave few details of the deep cuts it said would be enacted this year to pay for it.

The 2.34 trillion rouble (S$46.7 billion) spending plan includes 1.55 billion roubles to support banks, most of which was already announced last year and which many analysts say is still a fraction of what Moscow will have to spend to keep its lenders afloat. The plan focuses mainly on bailing out banks and big companies to help them weather the immediate impact of the crisis, at the expense of long-term development programmes. Extra money would also be spent to increase pensions in line with higher-than-expected inflation.