MOSCOW - Talking to Russians on the street, you'd be forgiven for thinking there was no economic crisis.

TV channels gloss over the subject and state news agencies are under orders to avoid frightening language. But beyond the spin, Russia's stock markets are plunging, some grocery shelves are empty and one newspaper has even suggested its readers stash some cash - under the mattress.

The Kremlin is grappling with its worst financial crisis in a decade - feeding a liquidity crunch as banks clamp down on lending. And economists are now fretting about how deep the slowdown will be.

In dozens of supermarkets in Moscow this month, shoppers have encountered shelves empty of even the most basic items. At one chain on Wednesday, meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and cigarettes were nowhere to be seen. The dessert section was empty except for a pricey brand of imported Scottish shortbread - priced at $48 - while sugar and salt were in plentiful supply.

Still, Nikita Bondarev, an academic researcher in his early 30s shopping at the Samokhval chain, said he had no particular concerns about the crisis.

"I'm not playing the (stock) market, and I'm getting my salary as usual," he said. But the sight of empty shelves, "brings up unpleasant memories of Soviet times."

This is not the early 1990s, when images of bread lines and food shortages were beamed across the world. But small businesses and even some mid-size chains like Samokhval are finding it impossible to get credit or that it is available only at exorbitant rates.

In the case of Samokhval, which has 60 stores in the Moscow area, and Mosmart, which has 54 stores and four superstores, suppliers are refusing to deliver goods because of outstanding debts, distributors said.

The problems appear to be limited to a few chains so far in a city that is still enjoying a consumer boom - fed by robust economic growth averaging more than 7 percent over the past eight years and windfall oil profits.

Still, memories of the financial collapse of 1998 are fresh in the minds of many. Savings were wiped out amid a wave of bank foreclosures fed by a crisis of confidence. And that's something the Kremlin is eager to avoid repeating.

Last week, the RTS stock exchange suffered its worst trading day on record, plunging 19 percent. The markets were hit after oil prices - the backbone of Russia's economy - slid heavily amid mounting concerns over the global economic meltdown.

But in Russia, it didn't even make the evening news on the three state-controlled channels.