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Bank Head Looks West

MADRID -- Russia, which has some 2,400 licensed banks, hopes to match Western capital requirements by the end of this century, but some banks are still inadequate to their tasks, Central Bank head Viktor Gerashchenko said.


Gerashchenko, speaking at a conference Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, said the Central Bank was already trying to improve the way it supervised the banking system.


It has already boosted capital requirements to 1 million Ecu ($1.24 million) and has set a target of 5 million Ecu for 1999, despite initial protests from domestic banks.


He admitted the quality of existing Russian banks varied, but said there was no evidence Russia was overbanked.

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