MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's finance minister said on Wednesday that Barack Obama's victory in U.S. presidential polls would have a positive effect on the global economy.

Democrat Obama, who was declared the first black U.S. president on Wednesday, won at least 349 Electoral College votes, far more than the 270 needed, defeating Republican candidate John McCain.

"The U.S. election will have a positive effect on the global economy due to new expectations, and the already absolutely clear new policy principles that will be used to achieve stability in the financial sector," Alexei Kudrin, who is also first deputy prime minister, told reporters.

Analysts in the United States said however that the initial market reaction to Obama's victory was muted, and that economic recession concerns persisted amid the ongoing financial crisis.

The relatively inexperienced Obama will have to deal with an economic crisis likely to be as deep as the Great Depression, as well as protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other foreign policy issues.

Kudrin said the new U.S. administration would face difficulties, but Obama's "economic team will reassess much of what has been done and inject new life into the decisions being implemented by the current administration."