The Russian government, facing its worst economic crisis in a decade, on Wednesday proposed cutting planned spending by 10 percent this year and 5 percent over the next two years in all categories except military and social expenditures. Russia’s economy has been battered by lower energy prices, a collapse in the value of the ruble and Western sanctions over its involvement in Ukraine. Russia’s GDP is expected to decline by 4-5 percent this year, the first drop since 2009. The ruble has lost half of its value while the Standard & Poor’s ratings agency downgraded Russia’s credit rating to a non-investment – “junk” – level for the first time in more than a decade. The anti-crisis plan released on the government’s website on Wednesday lists measures that authorities will take to support the economy including over $3.7 billion to prop up Russian banks and $700 million […]