UPDATE: Cbanker calls for boosting Russia’s FX reserves to $500 bln

(Adds comments in last paragraph)

ST. PETERSBURG, Jun 4 (PRIME) -- Russia should boost its foreign exchange and gold reserves to U.S. $500 billion, a level that will be sufficient to cover capital outflows during two or three years, Central Bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said Thursday at the International Banking Congress.

“The reserves should be sufficient to cover significant capital outflows during two to three years. That’s why we currently estimate a comfortable, a very comfortable level of reserves covering longstanding stress situations at $500 billion,” she said.

As of May 22, the country’s foreign exchange and gold reserves fell to $360.5 billion from $385.5 billion as of January 1 and $509.6 billion as of January 1, 2014.

It is necessary to boost reserves, but in a way that would not contradict the central bank’s inflation target of 4% for the mid-term, Nabiullina said.

The central bank does not put any deadlines for increasing the reserves to $500 billion, she said. “This will be done gradually, within several years at least,” she said.

End