Russian deputy prime minister: world economy shows definite signs of crisis

The recent situation on the world stock markets show definite signs of a financial crisis in the world economy, said Russian deputy prime minister and finance minister Alexei Kudrin in a conversation with journalists on Thursday.

The doubt has now fallen on something that "has always been thought reliable enough, that is financial transparency of American companies", he explained. The situation in separate very large corporations is projected on the risk reassessment in the economy on the whole. This affects the capitalization of markets, companies' abilities to service their credits, and thus the banking system, Kudrin believes.

Yet the role of international financial organizations and the joint efforts of countries have not fully manifested themselves so far, he pointed out. The European central bank and the US Federal Reserve System will take necessary steps to override the crisis, the finance minister believes.

The European and American economies are much steadier now than the South-West Asian economy was a few years ago when it faced a large-scale financial crisis, Kudrin added.