Moscow, The Russian government Saturday announced a range of measures to boost the country's economy rattled by the global credit crunch, including state funds to support housing demand, agriculture projects, and small businesses.

A Kremlin spokesman said the government would release state fund for acquisition of ready to possess economy-class houses and also provide credit for developers to complete the construction of partially built houses.

Large banks will advance loans to agricultural projects. "To achieve this, the charter capital of Rosselkhozbank and Rosagroleasing will be increased," he said.

The Kremlin spokesman said the government will increase financing for its credit programmes for small businesses from nine billion roubles to 30 billion roubles ($1.1 billion).

The global credit crisis has seen Russia's stock market tumble since last May, which lost around 70 percent of its value.

Earlier this month, President Dmitry Medvedev announced a $200 billion financial rescue package for banks and other key companies, amid the country's worst financial crisis since 1998.

Russia's resource-based economy has also been particularly hard-hit by the falling oil price, currently below $70, around half its peak level.

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