Russia’s Development Bank moved to avert a liquidity crisis yesterday by announcing plans to pump billions of pounds into the financial system.

Vladimir Dmitriev, the state bank’s chairman, said that it intended to place 200 billion roubles (£4 billion) next month with three banks - VTB, Sberbank and Gazprombank – to boost liquidity. The banks insisted that they had adequate funds and analysts suggested that the move was aimed at assisting smaller competitors.

Mr Dmitriev’s comments in the business journal Vedomosti were made as Alexei Kudrin, the Russian Finance Minister, said that the Government would act if the global credit crunch created difficulties in the domestic banking system. Mr Kudrin, on a visit to the United States, said he believed that the worst of the crisis in international markets had passed, but added: “If it develops further, then we remain in a zone of risk and need to be ready.”

A budget code that comes into force on November 1 would allow the Government to deposit excess cash at banks, Mr Kudrin said. Funds from state institutions, such as the Development Bank, could also be made available.

The Development Bank was established in May to provide medium- and long-term financing of big infrastructure programmes. It was formed by restructuring Vnesheconombank, the state-controlled foreign economic bank, and was among the recipients of a 640 billion rouble injection of state funding.

Mr Kudrin said that the funding could be deposited in local banks until it was needed for investment. Money under management at the national pension fund could also be placed at banks or invested in mortgage-backed securities.

The minister also said that work was going on to make it possible “within days” for banks to use their credit portfolios as collateral against money from the central bank.

“There are enough instruments, including those at the Government’s disposal,” he said in Washington, where he has been attending the autumn meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. “Whether we actually place the funds will depend on our evaluation of monetary aggregates on the market.”

Russia suffered an outflow of capital as foreign investors withdrew money after the eruption of the sub-prime mortage crisis in the United States in August. Many banks and companies have lost access to foreign credit as a result.

However, the central bank is sitting on the world’s third-largest foreign currency reserves, worth more than $430 billion (£209 billion), as booming oil and gas prices have brought money flooding into the economy. It has used its resources to avert liquidity problems by pumping billions of dollars into the banking system through one-day repo auctions.

“At last we can appreciate the value of our conservative policies,” Mr Kudrin said. He has consistently run budget surpluses and paid down debt since his appointment as Finance Minister in 2000.

Russia has also built up a $140 billion stabilisation fund from surplus oil revenues to cushion the State’s budget against any sudden drop in energy prices.

The fund is divided 45 per cent each in dollars and euros, with 10 per cent in sterling. Mr Kudrin said that he saw no need to change the balance despite the decline of the dollar, describing a gradual weakening of US currency as “no bad thing”.

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