Mishustin signs decree to resume operations under fiscal rule as early as May

MOSCOW. April 29 (Interfax) - A decree of the Russian government necessary for resuming operations with currency and gold under the fiscal rule from May, rather than July as originally planned, has been signed.

The document is dated April 27, and it was published on the official portal for the disclosure of regulatory legal acts on Wednesday.

At the end of February, even before the surge in volatility in commodity markets due to the military conflict in Iran, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the government, amid a shortfall in oil and gas revenues, was considering the possibility of lowering the base price in the fiscal rule. Shortly thereafter, the Finance Ministry announced a decision not to conduct operations for the purchase or sale of foreign currency and gold on the domestic market in March due to the planned change in the baseline oil price parameter in the fiscal rule. Later, on March 27, on the sidelines of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) congress, Siluanov said that the budget rule would be paused until summer. Following this, a corresponding government resolution was issued, according to which operations under the fiscal rule were suspended until July 1.

However, in mid-April, speaking at the Exchange Forum, Siluanov said that the government was considering the possibility of resuming operations more quickly.

"You said that perhaps [we need] to change the decision to suspend participation in the currency market earlier? You know, the government is considering this, because here we need to weigh all the factors. On the one hand, we must give the market an understanding that we are guided by certain principles of participation in the currency market and, in principle, of determining our decisions whether to participate or not. On the other hand, we also must be more flexible in connection with the changing situation," he said.

According to the rule, the Finance Ministry would have had to sell currency from reserves in March, while it was meant to buy it in April, with the level of March sales and April purchases approximately coinciding, according to the ministry's estimates.

The level of operations in May will be announced by the Finance Ministry on the third working day of the month (May 6).