Central Bank reduces currency market interventions 42% in September
MOSCOW. Oct 2 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia sold $3.178 billion and EUR214.96 million on the domestic currency market in September, the Central Bank said on its website.
The majority of the sales were planned interventions, at $2.191 billion and EUR147.76 million, respectively.
The Central Bank sold $5.456 billion and EUR475.63 million in August, so the September interventions were down 42% in dollars and 55% in euro.
The Central Bank started to sell currency in April after a four-month pause. It bought currency in small quantities in January and February.
The CBR shifted its target exchange-rate corridor by 5 kopecks on three occasions in September. The Central Bank increases currency market interventions once the ruble nears the corridor's boundary. The corridor is shifted when an intervention allotment - reduced to $400 million in September from $450 million previously - is used up.
Planned interventions are aimed primarily at neutralizing the expectations of forex market participants regarding changes in the ruble's exchange rate based on economic conditions abroad. The CBR determines the amount of the interventions by considering energy prices on global markets.
Purchases and sales of forex in excess of the targeted amounts are aimed at smoothing fluctuations in the ruble's exchange rate not caused by fundamental economic factors.
