Russia's Finance Ministry Tuesday said it hopes not all assets in the government's Reserve Fund - accumulated from windfall oil revenues and designed to cover budget deficits - will be spent this year.
"We should be very careful spending these assets," said Pyotr Kazakevich, deputy director of the ministry's international finance department. "We hope they won't all be spent this year."
Kazakevich added that 2009 will be the hardest year for the Russian economy, requiring substantial support.
"The current economic situation may demand such support," he said.