Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) members will need to spend 1-3% of their GDP to support the banking system of each country during the financial crisis, the Russian finance minister said on Tuesday.

"Our countries will need 1% to 3% of our GDP to support the banking system," Alexei Kudrin said at a meeting of financial ministers and heads of the central banks of the CIS, adding that he had made the conclusion after evaluating the situation in the CIS as a whole, including Russia.

Kudrin also said that by the end of the year in Russia alone 10% of loans issued by banks will not be repaid because of the global financial crisis.

The finance minister said the state had to support the banking system because "government cannot give loans for trillions of rubles, issue stocks and bonds, and take on the risks of the real sector of the economy."
sections: Economics