PARAMONOVA: NO BANKING CRISIS YET.

On a day when Moscowannounced that it was extending its soft peg of the ruble againstthe dollar to the end of 1995, even though that will bring hardshipon some Russian exporters, Moscow was wracked by the beginningsof a banking crisis, despite suggestions by acting Central Bankchief Tatyana Paramonova that there was no crisis yet. Russianmedia reported that a number of the country’s largest banks werein trouble and that the interbank credit market had ceased toexist. The CBR said it would pump funds into the banks to stabilizethe situation, and some bankers suggested that the crisis wasa plot by some banks to try to gain control of others. Meanwhile,Premier Chernomyrdin’s "Russia is Our Home" politicalbloc said it would adopt its final program on August 25; amongthe provisions to be included are ones denouncing the past rushto privatization.

Russia Again Calls for Lifting Sanctions Against Belgrade.