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World Bank Gives Legal Aid
World Bank Russian Country Director and Resident Representative Klaus Roland said that Russia has a budget surplus and significant reserves, but it needs to raise its reserves further. He also pointed out the problem of inflation in Russia. He called the Central Bank’s decision to raise the rate for the reserve fund to contain inflation. “The past decade has shown the importance of economic stability,” he observed.
The World Bank also approves of Russia’s decision not to pay off its debt to the Bank early, saying that the Russian Finance Ministry correctly saw that the move would be economically disadvantageous. He added that the Central Bank will accept any decision by the government on the question.
Roland commented on the need for public economic literacy in Russia and other countries. “People have no idea what debt and interest are,” he complained, saying that created a risk for individual households and for the economy in general. He praised the Russian public as economically conservative.
The World Bank and the NGO Institute for Law and Public Policy also signed an agreement on a grant of $1,896,000 to increase access to the legal system for the lowest-income sector of the Russian public. The grant was part of the Japan Social Development Fund, which the World Bank administers. The grant will be used to provide free legal services in 20 areas in Leningrad Region and Perm Territory. The grant will also be used for legal education and for monitoring of courts’ treatment of the poor.
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Photo: Ivan Grankin
