MOSCOW, January 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's
international reserves rose to $397.5 billion on January 20
from $296.2 billion on January 16, the chairman of the
country's Central Bank said on Thursday.
"The reserves are more than sufficient," Sergei Ignatyev said,
adding that the figure included $209.6 billion of national
funds.
The banker also said industrial production fell by 10.3%
year-on-year in December 2008.
The Russian industrial sector showed the first signs of a
recession in October last year, when indices dropped by 0.6%.
The sector is expected to continue its slump this year.
Andrei Klepach, a deputy economics minister, said on
Thursday production would decline a further 5.7% in the country
in 2009 for the first time since the 1998 default, according to
a new forecast.
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