Russia updates limit on state exporters' net forex assets amid weak rouble

MOSCOW: The Russian government has updated the limit of net foreign exchange assets for large state-controlled companies amid the rouble weakening, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing its analysis of state firms' regulatory disclosures.

Interfax said the disclosures by state gas firm Gazprom , oil firm Rosneft and diamond miner Alrosa showed the limit had been revised by the government some time ago.

The disclosures indicated that Alrosa and probably the other two companies should bring net foreign exchange assets to the level seen on Oct. 1, 2018 or below, the agency said. The timing for this process was not disclosed.

The move ultimately has the aim of encouraging companies to buy roubles with their export-earned dollars to support the currency.

Progress should be reported to the central bank on a monthly basis, Interfax said. The scale of how widely the limit would be applied was not immediately clear.

The last time such a limit was used for the three companies, as well as oil company Zarubezhneft, was at the end of 2014.

That time, a sharp fall of the rouble currency against the dollar had been caused, among other factors, by the reluctance of some state companies to sell their dollar revenue on the domestic market.

Russia's rouble is close to a six-month low against the US dollar as rising coronavirus cases worldwide threaten an oil price recovery and there are fears the country would be dragged into the military conflict in the South Caucasus.