OREANDA-NEWS  In December 2023, Russians made record net purchases of foreign currency - 179 billion rubles. This is stated in the Central Bank's (CB) Financial Market Risk Review.

It is clarified that almost all of this volume was in dollars and euros. In addition, the report of the Bank of Russia says that the largest sellers of currency in the spot market (with instant payments) remained systemically significant credit institutions (NWCS). In December, they carried out net currency sales on the Moscow Stock Exchange in the amount of 588.2 billion rubles, which is 14 percent more compared to the previous month.

Earlier in January, financial expert, Candidate of Economic Sciences Vladimir Grigoriev predicted an increase in the exchange rate of the national currency. At the moment, the ruble exchange rate may be influenced by multidirectional factors, he noted. In particular, tension in the Middle East may additionally lead to the cost of oil, which is good for the Russian national currency.

Earlier, the Central Bank reported that in October 2023, Russian residents tripled the purchase of foreign currency to 120.9 billion rubles. In September, this figure was 40.7 billion rubles. The growth rate of currency purchases began to accelerate in the second half of October against the background of the strengthening of the ruble.