Russia's biggest exporters reduce forex sales 2% to $14.6 bln in June - CBR

MOSCOW. July 10 (Interfax) - Net forex sales by 29 companies that are among Russia's largest exporters fell 2% month-on-month to $14.6 billion in June, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) said in a report on financial market risks posted on its website.

However, amid the tax payment period, average daily net forex sales by exporters jumped 69% in the second half of June, to $902 million after June 12 from $533 million up to this date.

The ratio of the largest exporters' net forex sales to forex export revenue rose 7 percentage points month-on-month to 104% in April as companies sold previously accumulated forex deposits, including to pay dividends for 2023.

Prior to the imposition of sanctions, in the first half of June, individuals made net forex purchases totaling 71.8 billion rubles, but in the second half of the month, despite the strengthening of the ruble, forex purchases totalled just 28.5 billion rubles, including 14.7 billion rubles spent on "toxic" currencies (purchases made through banks) and 13.7 billion rubles on the currencies of friendly countries (purchases made primarily through exchange market).

The drop in net forex purchases in the second half of June occurred amid a short-term widening of the spread on buying/selling forex through banks.

Overall net forex purchases plunged 45% to 100.2 billion rubles in June from 178.9 billion rubles in May. There was also no increase in demand for cash forex, purchases of which by individuals totalled 15.7 billion rubles, compared to an average of 21.9 billion rubles in the first five months of 2024.