The Central Bank of the Russian Federation sees no preconditions for the Ministry of Finance to buy yuan in 2023 – Kommersant

The head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina, said that the Bank of Russia sees no prerequisites for the Ministry of Finance to switch to buying yuan under the budget rule. Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Alexei Zabotkin, in turn, added that foreign exchange reserves are declining year by year.

“As for the purchase and sale of yuan by the Ministry of Finance, for the year as a whole we do not see that the Ministry of Finance will switch to buying yuan. In some months, operations may depend on incoming revenue, on prices, but for the year as a whole we do not lay this out, ”said Elvira Nabiullina, head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, at the press conferences following a meeting of the board of directors of the regulator.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Alexei Zabotkin, speaking about the impact of the operations of the Ministry of Finance on the dynamics of the exchange rate, noted that “for the year as a whole, foreign exchange reserves are reduced exactly by the amount that will be realized as part of sales under the budget rule.”

Earlier, Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev reported that the Ministry of Finance does not exclude the replenishment of the National Welfare Fund (NWF). According to him, this is not something unrealistic and could happen if prices for exported Russian oil steadily exceed $60 per barrel. However, in May, the average price of Urals oil fell to $53.34 per barrel – by 9% compared to $58.63 in April and by 32% by May 2022.

From January 13, 2023, the Central Bank resumed operations for the purchase of foreign currency in the domestic market under the budget rule. According to the rule, the Central Bank buys the currency of friendly countries and sends it to reserves if the actual oil and gas revenues exceed the estimated ones. Otherwise, the Central Bank sells the currency from the National Wealth Fund and receives rubles.

By data Ministry of Finance, in recent months, the volume of sales of foreign currency has been declining: from April 7 to May 5, it amounted to 74.6 billion rubles. (3.7 billion rubles per day), and from May 10 to June 6 – 40.4 billion rubles. (about 2 billion rubles a day).

Read about the situation in the foreign exchange market in the material “Kommersant” “Petroyuan is not in a hurry to leave the market”.

Polina Motyzlevskaya