Putin says central bank, government taking adequate measures

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the central bank and government were taking adequate measures to support the rouble and that Russia's current economic situation was caused by external factors. He told his annual end-of-year news conference: "I believe that the central bank and the government are taking adequate measures." He added that there may have been questions over the timeliness and quality of the measures. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Polina Devitt, writing by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Timothy Heritage)