© Portal. FILE PHOTO. A worker holds 1000 Russian ruble bills at the Goznak printing factory in Moscow, Russia. July 11, 2019. Portal/Maxim Shemetov
MOSCOW, Sept 21 (Portal) – Russia approved on Thursday a shortlist of countries whose banks can operate in its foreign exchange and derivatives markets, official documents show, as Russian authorities seek to ease pressure on the ruble through capital outflows reduce.
The ruble fell to a near 17-month low of 101.75 per dollar in August but has struggled to recover despite successive rate hikes to 13%. Authorities are discussing reintroducing currency control measures to support the currency.
Since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has been working to expand “friendly” countries’ access to its financial infrastructure after Russia was largely locked out of Western systems and currencies.
Russia considers as “no friends” the countries that imposed sanctions against the country over a so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The approved list includes more than 30 countries: Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, India, Indonesia . Iran, Qatar, Malaysia, Morocco, Mongolia, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Serbia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Venezuela and Vietnam.
However, territories such as Argentina, Hong Kong, Israel, Mexico and Moldova were not included in the list, which was published in draft form in the summer.
“The decision is aimed at improving the effectiveness of the mechanism of direct conversion of the national currencies of friendly and neutral countries and forming direct rates to the ruble in order to meet the demand of the Russian economy for settlements in the national currency,” the government said.
On the other hand, the Moscow Stock Exchange, the largest in Russia, announced that from September 25, the possibilities of conducting currency transactions with the dirham-ruble pair, which would be settled in rubles, would be expanded.
Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said on Wednesday that Russia was partly “hostage” to its own policy of promoting the use of the ruble in international agreements.
(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)