Washington, 13 October: Russia will continue the course towards liberalization of its economy, making an adjustment for the need to increase state regulation to some extent, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin said in Washington.

"Russia will continue the course towards liberalization of the economy, making an allowance for the events now unfolding, when the state has to additionally increase regulation of these issues - but no more than that," Kudrin told a meeting with representatives of the Institute of International Finance.

He said Russia had very clear benchmarks, agreements with leading countries, and these benchmarks do not change depending on events.

Russia continues the course towards liberalization in trade and financial relations - and the banks that operate in Russia will confirm this, the minister believes.

He pointed out that the Russian financial system had accumulated a margin of safety in the form of reserves. The Russian budget is balanced with the price of Urals brand oil at 70 dollars a barrel. Should the oil price fall below this level, the reserve fund, which equals 10 per cent of GDP, will be drawn upon to fund current budget spending, Kudrin said.

"This means that we can work in a familiar mode for several years without cutting our programmes, our welfare assistance," he said. [Passage omitted].