UrBC, Moscow, January 14, 2019. Russia’s Finance Ministry intends to buy RUB 265.8bn worth of foreign currency between January 15 and February 6, 2019, the ministry reports.

‘The overall amount of money directed to making foreign currency purchases comes to RUB 265.8bn. The purchasing transactions will be made on January 15-February 6, 2019, which means the daily amount will come to the foreign currency equivalent of RUB 15.6bn’ the Finance Ministry’s website indicates.

Russia’s federal budget is expected to get an additional RUB 220.6bn from the oil and gas revenues in January 2019, which stems from the actual oil prices being higher than the predicted base level.

‘The difference between the actual oil and gas budget revenues in December 2018 and the earlier estimates came to RUB 45.1bn,’ the ministry states.

Now the Bank of Russia’s Chair of the BOD Elvira Nabiullina announced, following the Board of Directors’ meeting on December 14, that the bank would resume buying foreign currency starting January 15, 2019. (The purchasing transactions stopped in September.)