Moscow, April 1 (IANS): Russia has allocated about 3.04 billion rubles ($53 million) to develop its digital economy, according to an order by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev published on Saturday.

The fund will be used to finance IT infrastructure and technology research centres in the country and boost Russia's information security, said the order, which was published on the government's website, Xinhua reported.

Russia's state program Digital Economy, approved in July 2017, consists of five areas -- regulation, education and human resources, cyber security, research, and IT infrastructure.

The Russian economy largely relies on natural resource exports and arms sales. The country is seeking to improve the structure of its economy.

"Digital conversion of the economy is an issue of our global competitiveness and national security ... We should have a full-fledged digital environment," Medvedev said at a government meeting last year.