Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) bankers and finance ministers are to meet in Moscow on March 31 to discuss ways to soften the impact of the global financial crisis.
The meeting is taking place at the request of Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who has called for greater regional cooperation in trying to address the crisis. Russia, the largest trading partner for every other CIS country, has been hard hit by falling commodity prices and a devalued currency, slumping industrial output and rising unemployment. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Weaker regional economies have suffered, and many are likely to experience negative growth this year, the International Monetary Fund has warned. Russia's bailout package tops $48 billion, one-sixth of the country's budget, Kudrin revealed, the Prime-Tass news agency reported March 23.
