MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

The Central Bank said financial institutions had made the largest contribution to reducing the overall debt, lowering their debts by $23.9 billion to $142.4 billion.

Amid declining credit terms on foreign loan markets, Russian banks were not refinancing but discharging their debts.

By contrast, the non-financial sector saw its foreign debt rise $10 billion to $294.4 billion.

The Russian government"s debt fell by $1.8 billion to $27.7 billion in the reporting period.

The debt inherited from the former Soviet Union was down to $4.4 billion from $4.6 billion.