Russia prepared for second global crisis, Putin says
Russia is better prepared for a second global financial crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday in an interview with RT TV, RIA Novosti reported.
"I believe we are even better prepared because we've already experienced the first wave of the crisis, and we have an understanding of what's to be done about it and how we should do it," he said. "And we have the instruments for crisis management."
He added that the parliament had agreed to assign 200 billion rubles to the government fund, which could help cover the budget deficit.
"But so far, we don't have a deficit: next year's budget registers a surplus, slight as it may be," Putin said. "Our unemployment rates are the lowest possible. We maintain an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent, which is even below pre-crisis indices."
He added that Russia will closely follow the economic situation in neighboring countries. "Our interest is in seeing the euro zone survive and our main partner-economies get back on track," he said. "We need Europe's leading economies such as Germany, France and Britain to be in good shape."
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