Bank of Russia to Forgo Buying Foreign Currency Through 2019
- Russia won’t buy foreign currency for reserves in base case
- Central bank sees ‘moderately tight’ conditions prevailing
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Russia’s central bank said it won’t interfere in the market with foreign-currency purchases in the next three years as it’s in no rush to reach the target of $500 billion in international reserves, forecasting the stockpile will stay largely unchanged through 2019.
International reserves will be about $405 billion at the end of 2019 under its base case of oil staying near $40 a barrel, compared with $397 billion this month, according to the Bank of Russia’s draft 2017-2019 monetary-policy guidelines, submitted to the government Wednesday. The central bank may resume foreign-currency purchases in a more optimistic scenario, where the crude price climbs to $55 in 2019, according to the document.