Russia's Finance Ministry believes that it is too early to raise capital requirements for domestic banks as the situation in the banking sector remains tense and the national economy is recovering slowly from the crisis, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Sunday.
Kudrin said in November 2009 that he was prepared to introduce a bill in twelve months obliging banks to raise their minimal capital to 1 billion roubles ($30 million) within five years.
The minister said the ministry would come up with the proposal to raise bank capital requirements only after the world financial sector was stabilized.
Under effective law, minimum capital requirements for Russian banks are increased to 90 million roubles ($3 million) from 2010 and to 180 million roubles ($6 million) from 2012.
Russia, which receives a large part of its revenue from oil exports, was hit hard by the global financial crisis, prompting the government to take urgent measures to save the banking sector from collapse, extending direct and subordinated loans to major banks, most of them held in private hands.
Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said in March that while a second wave of economic crisis was unlikely in Russia, the country was braced for a long period of recovery after the global financial meltdown.
WASHINGTON, October 10 (RIA Novosti)
