CBR sells $1.04 bln, 69 mln euro in July
MOSCOW. Aug 7. (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) sold $1.045 billion and 69.4 million euro and purchased no foreign currency in July, the bank said in its materials.
All of the bank's forex sales were of a target character in July.
In June, the CBR sold $2.207 billion and 173.1 million euro; therefore, the bank slashed interventions by about 52% last month.
In the last days of May, the CBR acted as a forex seller for the first time since mid-January, selling $276 million and 17.2 million euro. All of these were target operations.
Target interventions are aimed primarily at neutralizing the sustained expectations of forex market participants regarding changes in the ruble's exchange rate, which have been formed under the influence of foreign economic conditions. The CBR determines the amount of target interventions it makes by considering energy prices on global markets.
Purchases and sales of forex that the CBR makes in excess of the established target amount are aimed at smoothing over fluctuations in the ruble's exchange rate and are not due to the influence of fundamental economic factors.