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Russia’s Central Bank limits foreign exchange interventions

Under the new approach, the Russian Central Bank will conduct operations to sell or purchase foreign currency with the intensity of $350 million per day

MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Russia’s Central Bank has modified its approach to foreign currency interventions conducted for the purpose of the ruble’s stabilization, limiting the daily volume of operations with foreign exchange to $350 million, the regulator said on Wednesday.

Under the new approach, the Russian Central Bank will conduct operations to sell or purchase foreign currency with the intensity of $350 million per day, when the ruble value of the US dollar/euro currency basket reaches the upper or lower boundary of the floating operational band, the regulator said in a statement.

“In cases when the value of the bi-currency basket stays at the operational band’s boundaries or beyond it during the entire trading session, the volume of the Bank of Russia’s interventions will not exceed $350 million on that day,” the statement says.

“At the same time, should threats to financial stability emerge, the Bank of Russia is ready to carry out additional interventions on the domestic foreign exchange market,” the statement said.

For comparison, the Central Bank of Russia sold about $2.5 billion in interventions on the domestic foreign exchange market on October 30.

The euro and the US dollar rose by more than 3% against the ruble to 56.16 and 44.98 respectively in early trading on the Moscow Exchange on Wednesday.

The Central Bank of Russia has also introduced 12-month foreign currency repo deals since Wednesday as a new instrument to ensure the stable operation of the country’s banking sector and reduce pressure on the ruble, the regulator said.