CBR to differentiate reserve requirements by currency, raise ratios for currencies of "unfriendly" countries

MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is differentiating reserve requirements for banks depending on the type of currency, raising reserve ratios for the currencies of "unfriendly" countries while lowering them for those of "friendly" countries.

The reserve ratio for all categories of reservable liabilities in the currencies of "unfriendly" countries will be 7.5% as of April 1, 2023, while the ratio for those in other currencies will be 5.5%, the CBR said.

The reserve ratio for all liabilities in foreign currency has been 7% since March 1, 2023.

The CBR made the decision to differentiate ratios depending on currency in order to encourage changes in the structure of banks' forex liabilities in favour of the currencies of friendly countries, and to maintain conditions to further reduce the share of forex on banks' balance sheets.

The amount of liabilities in for the currencies of "unfriendly" countries has been set to zero for banks with basic licenses.

The new ratios will be applied starting with the regulation of mandatory reserves for April 2023. Other mandatory reserve ratios are not changing, the CBR said.

The CBR is also differentiating ratios for banks' transactions with the central counterparty depending on currency. As of April 1, the ratio will be 0.05 for liabilities in for the currencies of "unfriendly" countries and 0.2 for those in other currencies. The ratio for transactions in rubles will remain unchanged at 0.2.