MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Head of Russia’s Accounts Chamber Alexei Kudrin thinks it would be reasonable for the government not only to use the reserves from the National Wealth Fund (NWF) but also external loans to support the economy in the current conditions.

"Now free resources of our NWF amount to 10 trillion [rubles] ($135 bln), so we need to spend them carefully. I already said that we need to intensify the assistance - the budget, the regions and the Pension Fund will require it," Kudrin said in an interview with RBC TV channel.

"But in addition to the NWF we have one more serious reserve: our country has one of the smallest state debts, and we can borrow on the [foreign] market and thereby increase this amount of support," the head of the Accounts Chamber explained.

"We need to divide the spending on all measures I spoke about between the NWF and loans. The loans in terms of scope and capabilities are [a resource] which is no weaker than the NWF. It can be that ace card that will play no less than the NWF," Kudrin said.

Earlier, auditor of the Accounts Chamber Danil Shilkov named targeted assistance to all sectors among the measures to stabilize the economy. The auditor added that the authorities should significantly increase support for small and medium-sized enterprises, their employees, as well as to self-employed Russians.

On Monday, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported that the number of novel coronavirus in Russia has risen by 2,558 over the past 24 hours reaching 18,328 in 82 regions across the country. By now, 1,470 patients have recovered, 148 people have died.