Foreign Currency and Central Bank

ruble: The ruble rise came despite Central Bank purchases of foreign currency to top up its reserves — a policy shift announced last week — and modest losses in global prices for oil, Russia chief export, according to The Moscow Times. Russia end-of-month tax period began on May 15, with the bulk of the taxes falling due next week, including those for which exporters convert most foreign currency into rubles. At 4:30 p.m., the ruble was around 0.7 percent stronger against the dollar at 49.22 and gained 1.3 percent to trade at 56 versus the euro. Analysts say demand for foreign currency has tailed off now that the peak of foreign debt repayments by Russian firms in the first half of the year has passed. The bank also canceled a one-year forex repo auction that it has been holding to ease demand for dollars following a collapse in the ruble in December. "Today decision not to hold the yearly auction indirectly points to a willingness to restrain the ruble rise," Dmitry Polevoy, an economist at ING Bank in Moscow, said in a note. On Monday, the Central Bank said it bought $200 million on the forex market on May 14, the maximum daily amount it said it would buy to replenish the reserves. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.