Russian finance ministry to slash daily FX buying in Feb

MOSCOW: Russia's finance ministry said on Wednesday it would buy 2.4 billion roubles ($31.54 million) worth of foreign currency a day between Feb. 5 and March 4, a near three-fold decrease in the amount of daily operations from the previous month.

Regular FX purchases on the market will total 45.6 billion roubles ($599.29 million) over the next month, the ministry said. A Reuters survey of analysts predicted that FX buying would total 110 billion roubles.

In the previous period, between Jan. 15 and Feb. 4, the ministry had planned to buy 106.3 billion roubles, or 7.1 billion roubles a day.

A recovery in prices for oil, Russia's key export, has enabled Russia to return to foreign currency purchases.

In 2020, state FX sales had helped the rouble weather volatility on global financial markets, limiting losses in the Russian currency amid a slump in oil prices, the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical risks.