MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Russia’s Finance Ministry may appear on the currency market in the capacity of a buyer in the first quarter of next year, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the Rossiya-24 round-the-clock television news channel in an interview.

“We hope that the first quarter of next year will see no panic buying of currency, in particular, by economic entities. We would be able to calmly purchase currency on the market without causing any influence on it and to meet our crucial needs,” he said.

Earlier in December the Ministry of Finance started selling up the budget’s residual cash on the market. A total of $1.5 billion was sold, Siluanov said.

Weak rouble compensates for half of budget losses from oil price slump

The finance minister also said the rouble’s fall has compensated for a mere 50% of the Russian budget’s losses from the oil price slump.

“It only seems that the rouble’s fall has fully compensated (for the budget’s losses from the oil price slump), Siluanov said. “It did compensate for about half of the fall, because the lower the price of oil, the less we earn.”