Russian MP calls for exempting foreign investors from 300,000 ruble cap on buying digital rubles

MOSCOW. Sept 11 (Interfax) - Foreigners should not be subject to the monthly limit of 300,000 rubles on transactions with digital rubles, as this will simplify foreign investment in Russia and the purchase of digital financial assets (DFA) by nonresidents, the chairman of the State Duma Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov proposed.

"We recently passed a law in the spring session under which we allowed foreign organizations, including banks, to identify foreign clients. These clients can work on our stock markets and acquire DFA, among other things [...], including buy digital rubles. Well, I would lift this restriction for foreigners so they could spend millions," Aksakov said on Duma.TV.

Central Bank of Russia (CBR) chief Elvira Nabiullina said in the spring that the limit on transactions in digital rubles could be 300,000 rubles per month, for both foreigners and Russian citizens.

"This restriction should not apply to them," Aksakov said, referring to foreign investors. He recalled that the cap of 300,000 rubles is planned in order to prevent money from being swept out of the banking system. "That is, they were afraid that many people will start to withdraw money from banks and transfer it to the CBR's digital system," he said.

Back at the stage when the concept for the digital ruble was being discussed, the CBR noted that respondents disagreed about imposing limits on digital ruble transactions. Some market participants called for restrictions on the amount and size of transfers to digital rubles, particularly at the initial state of the digital ruble's rollout, in order to minimize the risks of fraud and to assess the digital ruble's impact on the banking sector's liquidity.

"In the view of other respondents, the imposition of limits on transactions in digital rubles could have a negative impact on the development of services and products that use the possibilities of the digital ruble and require significant amounts for use," the CBR said.