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After the reduction in state currency purchases, the Russian rouble is weaker against US dollars

The Russian rouble fell slightly on Friday against the U.S. Dollar and, even more, against the Chinese yuan, as a reaction to the planned reduction of the state's purchases of foreign currencies for the next month.

The Russian Finance Ministry announced earlier that they would reduce their foreign currency sales from 1.4 billion Russian roubles per day to 0.6 billion Russian roubles (roughly $7.36 million) per day between October 7 and November 7.

From October 7, the total daily net forex sales of the state, combining forex operations conducted by both the central bank and the ministry, will be reduced to 9.54 billion Russian roubles, down from the previous 10.34 billion.

The central bank purchases and sells foreign currency to maintain a constant supply on the domestic markets and for the Finance Ministry, which manages the National Wealth Fund denominated by foreign currency.

The central bank was a net seller in foreign currency for the entire year 2025. This supported the rouble which had risen by 45% since the beginning of the year. About 10% of daily yuan trade is conducted by the central bank.

LSEG's data on over-the counter trade shows that the rouble fell by 0.3% at 0900 GMT to 82.30 against the dollar. The rouble fell by 1.2% at the Moscow Stock Exchange to 11.47 versus the Chinese yuan, the most commonly traded currency.

Natalya Milchakova, from Freedom Finance, said that "the reduction in forex sales may contribute to a down correction of the rouble if a trigger is triggered. The likelihood of negative events due to the geopolitical tensions and the unstable macroeconomic data are quite high."

She added, "We believe that the rouble could depreciate even further in October after the release of September inflation data and October inflation expectations." (Reporting and editing by Alex Richardson; Gleb Bryanski)

(source: Reuters)