Currency, gold purchase/sale operations under fiscal rule to resume in May - Russian Finance Ministry

MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) - The Finance Ministry will resume operations for the purchase/sale of currency and gold on the domestic market under the fiscal rule from May in order to increase the stability and predictability of domestic economic conditions and reduce the impact of volatile energy market conditions on the Russian economy and financial system.

Operations deferred for March and April will be taken into account when determining the size of operations in May 2026, the ministry said.

Publication of information on the size of operations will be carried out as per tradition on the third working day of the month at 12:00.

At the end of February, even before the surge in volatility in commodity markets due to the military conflict in Iran, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the government, amid a shortfall in oil and gas revenues, was considering the possibility of lowering the base price in the fiscal rule. Shortly thereafter, the Finance Ministry announced a decision not to conduct operations for the purchase or sale of foreign currency and gold on the domestic market in March due to the planned change in the baseline oil price parameter in the fiscal rule.

Later, on March 27, on the sidelines of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) congress, Siluanov said that the budget rule would be paused until summer. Following this, a corresponding government resolution was issued, according to which operations under the fiscal rule were suspended until July 1.

However, in mid-April, speaking at the Exchange Forum, Siluanov said that the government was considering the possibility of resuming operations more quickly.

"You said that perhaps [we need] to change the decision to suspend participation in the currency market earlier? You know, the government is considering this, because here we need to weigh all the factors. On the one hand, we must give the market an understanding that we are guided by certain principles of participation in the currency market and, in principle, of determining our decisions whether to participate or not. On the other hand, we also must be more flexible in connection with the changing situation," he said.

"Therefore, the government will consider this issue, I think that this discussion could be resumed, and I think the government will decide on this in the near future," he said.

He also said that the Finance Ministry was supposed to sell currency from reserves in March and to buy them in April, and that the level of March sales and April purchases, according to the ministry's estimate, would be the same.