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Finance ministry to announce FX selling plan on March 3
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This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine
MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) – Russia’s finance ministry is expected to increase its sales of foreign currency for state reserves to about $2.4 billion in the coming month, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.
The finance ministry will announce its buying plan for the period of March 7 to April 6 at 0900 GMT on Friday.
The median forecast from a survey of five analysts suggested Russia would sell 180 billion roubles ($2.39 billion) worth of foreign currency in regular sales on the open market under its fiscal rule.
Individual forecasts ranged from 115 to 216 billion roubles.
In the previous period, between Feb.7 and March 6, the ministry had planned to sell 160.2 billion roubles worth of foreign currency to compensate for lower oil and gas revenues.
The finance ministry in January said it was restarting foreign currency operations, in Chinese yuan, to increase stability of domestic economic conditions and reduce the impact of energy market volatility on Russia’s economy and url shortener public finances.
Russia halted FX interventions last year as the West imposed sweeping sanctions against Moscow after it launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, which included the freezing of about $300 billion in foreign exchange reserves.
In Russia, where the U.S.dollar was king for years after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the yuan, or renminbi, has become a major player. ($1 = 75.3000 roubles) (Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Kim Coghill)
