Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told the media on Monday that he foresaw an improvement in the global financial situation during the third and fourth quarters of next year.

Putin said the world economy had never experienced a crisis like this before.

He believed the situation will improve in the third and fourth quarters of 2009, and will produce a positive effect on the Russian economy in 2010.

Putin also said on Monday that Russia had designated 10 trillion rubles (about US$340 billion), which is almost equal to the country's annual budget, to cope with the impact of the global crisis.

Meanwhile, the Russian government's press office said that Putin had approved the Finance Ministry's issuance of state negotiable securities with a par value up to 535.8 billion rubles (about US$18.5 billion) next year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2008)