© Reuters. An image shows Russian ruble coins in this illustration photo taken on March 25, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Illustration
(Reuters) – Russia’s Finance Ministry said on Wednesday that it will sell 1.7 billion rubles ($18.9 million) worth of foreign currency per day between July 7 and August 4, marking a decrease in daily transaction volume from the previous month.
After a hiatus of several months, Russia resumed foreign exchange intervention in January, selling yuan instead of what it calls “unfriendly” Western currencies, underscoring the growing importance of the Chinese currency in Moscow’s efforts to ensure economic stability amid Western sanctions.
The Ministry of Finance said that its regular sales in foreign currency on the market will amount to 34.9 billion rubles over the next month. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected total sales of 57 billion rubles.
In the previous period, between June 6 and July 7, the ministry planned to sell 74.6 billion rubles worth of foreign currency to compensate for the drop in oil and gas revenues.
The government is implementing foreign exchange interventions to cover shortfalls – or build up reserves in case of surpluses – in earnings from Russia’s vital oil and gas exports, whose revenues have shrunk this year due to Western sanctions.
The Finance Ministry said oil and gas revenues for June were 30.3 billion rubles less than planned. It said it expected a deficit of 4.5 billion rubles from federal energy revenues in July.
Lower revenues and higher spending pushed Russia’s budget deficit in the January-May period to 3.41 trillion rubles, already 17% higher than the target for the whole of 2023, creating fiscal strains as Moscow continues its military offensive in Ukraine.
($1 = 89.8350 rubles)