Plans for a free float of the rouble are likely to be delayed after Russian policy-makers suggested the country's economy is not prepared for unrestricted currency trading. A research report from Citigroup Inc economists predicts that Russia's central bank will delay the free float beyond the official target of 2011. The experts say Russia is [...]

Russia's authorities have been praised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for their handling of the financial crisis, but it suggests the central bank should be more aggressive in fighting inflation. In a statement, the IMF predicts the Russian economy will expand at a pace of 3.5 per cent next year, though it warns that [...]

Russia's central bank lent all of the five billion roubles it had available to commercial banks this week, providing three-month, collateral-free loans at an average rate of 13 per cent. Introduced last October, the regulator's loans are intended to help increase liquidity in Russia's banking system. Banks in the country bid for more than 15 [...]

Interest rates in Russia have been cut to a record low of nine per cent by the central bank, in a move aimed at slowing rouble appreciation and supporting the country's economic recovery. Taking effect tomorrow, the cut by 50 basis points marks the ninth time the central bank has made a rate reduction since [...]

The Russian central bank has pledged to cut interest rates in order to reduce pressure on the rouble. Following World Bank optimism about the country's economic outlook for 2010, the bank warned the market against a one-way bet on the strength of the oil-driven rouble. Reuters reports that Sergei Shvetsov, head of the Russian central [...]

Moderation of the rouble's appreciation was the Russian central bank's aim when it purchased between $15 billion and $16 billion on the foreign exchange market in October. That's according to Alexei Ulyukayev, the bank's deputy chairman, who told reporters the recent strengthening of the rouble had prompted concern in some corners. "It, of course, causes [...]

In the same month that Russia revealed it was looking into setting up a bilateral currency deal with China, the Press Trust of India has reported that India and Russia are considering returning to a rupee-rouble trade arrangement to end dependency on the dollar and step up economic interactions. Representatives for Russia's central bank claim [...]

As its policy to maintain gradual exchange rate fluctuations continues, Russia's central bank bought $700 million in the first minutes of trade today, before shifting its intervention level by five kopecks and allowing the rouble to scale fresh highs. The institution has been allowing the currency's floating corridor to move by 5 kopecks for each [...]

Russia's central bank stepped in to curb the rouble's recent appreciation this week, spending a total of around $4 billion. Its aim has been to defend the currency around the 36.25 level against the euro-dollar basket the institution uses for guiding its foreign exchange policy. According to Reuters, the rouble finished 36.29 against the basket [...]

Russia's central bank hopes to limit rouble appreciation after buying more than a billion dollars, in the same week as lending rates were cut for the seventh time since April. Analysts claim the drop by 50 basis points to 10 per cent illustrates that the country is more concerned with economic growth than inflation, with [...]