"I should say things are improving with regards to liquidity on the Russian market," said Pyotr Kazakevich, deputy head of the ministry's department for international finance, state debt and assets.
The Finance Ministry announced Thursday it would hold auctions on September 30 and October 1, offering banks up to 500 billion rubles ($20 billion) in temporarily available budget funds.
At its September 30 auction, the ministry will offer 200 billion rubles ($7.9 billion) for a term between October 1 and November 5 at a minimum rate of 8.25% per annum.
At its second auction, the Finance Ministry will offer up to 300 billion rubles ($11.9 billion) from October 2-9 at a minimum rate of 8% per annum.
Amid global financial troubles, Russian stocks plummeted on September 17 to their lowest levels in nearly three years, prompting trading to be suspended for two days on the RTS and MICEX exchanges.
The market rebounded on September 19 after the government took urgent measures to pump billions of dollars into the financial sector to shore up liquidity.
Analysts say problems with liquidity experienced by the Russian banking sector might prompt a wave of bank consolidation, and reduce the number of credit institutions in Russia by a third.
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