Russian cbank to launch foreign currency repo deals October 27

MOSCOW, Oct 16 (PRIME) -- The Russian central bank will introduce foreign currency repo deals to support banks’ short-term foreign currency liquidity on October 27, the authority said in a statement Thursday.

The central bank will offer $1.5 billion at an auction scheduled for October 29 for 28 days and $2 billion at an auction on October 30 for seven days.

The limit for all operations to be conducted until 2017 was set at U.S. $50 billion.

In September, the central bank launched foreign currency swaps, swapping U.S. dollars for rubles and purchasing them in order to provide banks with foreign currency liquidity after the E.U. and the U.S. closed their capital markets for them.

The Finance Ministry will soon start holding foreign currency deposit auctions with banks placing about $3 billion for a month and more the minister’s aide Svetlana Nikitina said late Wednesday.

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