To rescue the country's banks troubled by credit crisis, Russia has approved a host of measures worth $86 billion, a media report said on Friday.

"Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, has approved a raft of measures worth $86 billion (51 billion pounds) to assist banks hit by the credit freeze," the BBC said in a report published online.

The Russian government would make $50 billion available to banks and firms that need to refinance foreign debt while the rest would be available as loans to banks, the report said.

The package is designed to restore confidence in Russian banks and revive shares, which have seen steep falls, it added.

Meanwhile, trading on Russian stock exchanges has been suspended. The trading on the exchanges were stopped after the country's key index Micex plunged over 10 per cent on Wednesday.

"The falls in Russia and elsewhere have been blamed on panic selling by global investors fearful of a deep worldwide recession," BBC said.

According to the report, Russian shares were also hit in August amid concerns about the conflict between Russia and Georgia. The steep decline in oil prices has also taken its toll with energy firms accounting for about two-thirds of the Russian stock indexes, it added.

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