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To: PaulM who wrote (12427)	5/31/1998 1:04:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116896

U.S. says supports additional aid for Russia 12:54 p.m. May 31, 1998 Eastern By Adam Entous WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said Sunday it would support extra funding for Russia from international lending agencies to calm markets and help Moscow cope with the effects of Asia's economic crisis. ''The United States endorses additional conditional financial support from the international financial institutions, as necessary, to promote stability, structural reforms and growth in Russia,'' President Clinton said in a statement released by the White House. Washington has already promised to back an International Monetary Fund staff recommendation that Russia be offered a $670 million installment on a $9.2 billion loan. But a White House official said Sunday that Washington was willing to back additional loans as needed from both the IMF and the World Bank to help ease pressure on the ruble and restore investor confidence after a week of market turmoil. Russian stock prices sank last week to levels last seen at the end of 1996 and treasury bill yields soared, forcing the government to triple interest rates to 150 percent to protect the rouble against the risk of a devaluation. Although Russia has suffered from Asia's financial crisis and has been hit by a drop in world oil prices, factors such as government debt, a payments crisis and low tax revenues are central to Moscow's problems. The government has vowed to cut budget spending and has put the main focus on boosting tax revenues. But the latest crisis has led to market worries that Russian official reserves were being depleted. In Sunday's statement, Clinton welcomed Russia's new economic program for 1998. ''Implementation of this program will strengthen the fundamentals of the Russian economy and foster maintenance of a stable ruble,'' Clinton said. Clinton said he had directed U.S. officials to review Russia's financial situation following a conversation last week with Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.