NOVO-OGARYOVO (Sputnik) — Putin urged the Russian government to closely monitor the economic situation.
"We must be ready for any developments in the commodity markets, equity markets, monitor this very carefully and have scenarios prepared for the Russian economy for any event," Putin said at a government meeting.
Earlier in the day, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the deficit of the Russian budget at the end of 2015 stood at 2.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
The Russian government has already made a decision to optimize the budget, the departments have to submit their proposals to cut down spending by 10 percent, Siluanov said.
