OREANDA-NEWS The Bank of Russia will not buy currency for the Ministry of Finance from August, 23 to the end of September.

The  decision was made to "increase the predictability of the actions of the monetary authorities and reduce the volatility of financial markets".   These operations will not be performed from Thursday, August 23, until the end of September 2018.

At the same time, on August 8, the Central Bank bought currency for the Ministry of Finance for 8.4 billion rubles, and the day before-for 16.7 billion rubles.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance reported that from August 7 to September 6, 2018, it will direct 383.2 billion rubles of additional oil and gas revenues to the purchase of currency, and the daily volume of foreign currency purchase will be in the equivalent of 16.7 billion rubles.

The regulator warned that it could adjust the daily volume of purchases of foreign currency to limit the volatility of the ruble in the framework of the mechanism of the budget rule. During longer operation in the framework of fiscal rules will be implemented in full, explained in the CBA.

In a comment on the current situation in the foreign exchange market, the Bank of Russia noted that the increased volatility of the ruble exchange rate in recent days is a natural reaction of the financial market to the news about new potential sanctions against the background of changes in global financial markets.

The ruble is significantly strengthened against the Dollar and the Euro after the decision of the Bank of Russia to suspend the purchase of currency for the Ministry of Finance, follows from the trading data of the Moscow exchange.

In the rules of the government there are no restrictions that would oblige the Ministry of Finance to purchase currency under the budget rule in the domestic market. Therefore, the Ministry can replenish its reserves, making purchases of currency directly from the Central Bank.

Earlier Bloomberg reported that the Bank of Russia has sharply increased the volume of purchases of gold for its foreign exchange reserves against the backdrop of new sanctions.