Business Hub – Moscow – News agencies
Yesterday, a set of data was released by the Russian Central Bank, Which indicates that the Russian economy is recovering, coinciding with the release of inflation data, which revealed a slowdown in the consumer price index in the country.
At a time when the Russian authorities are discussing an increase in the minimum wage by 200% to 30,000 rubles, in light of the waves of inflation that global commodity prices are suffering from.
reserve rises
The Central Bank said that the international reserves of the Russian Federation as of August 5, 2022 amounted to $574.8 billion, Having increased 0.6% (or $3.6 billion) during the week.
The report stated: “International reserves as of August 5 were $574.8 billion, After increasing during the week by $3.6 billion, or 0.6%, Under the influence of positive re-evaluation, As of July 29, International reserves amounted to 571.2 billion dollars.
International reserves are highly liquid foreign assets held by the Bank of Russia and the Government of the Russian Federation. It consists of foreign exchange funds, special drawing rights, reserve position in the International Monetary Fund and monetary gold.
300 billion frozen
And earlier, The head of the Russian Central Bank , Elvira Nabiulina,said, It is the result of Western sanctions, About $300 billion of Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves have been frozen.
After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Western countries imposed sanctions against the Bank of Russia. In addition to freezing the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Russian Federation, All operations related to the management of the reserves and assets of the Central Bank, as well as operations with any legal entity, organization or body acting on behalf of or on behalf of the Central Bank, Signed under ban.
minimum
Deputies from the LDP faction presented to the Chamber of Deputies a bill to increase the minimum wage to 30 thousand rubles per month, Noting the high inflation and low income due to the imposition of sanctions against Russia.
The draft Federal Law on Amendments to Article 1 of the Federal Law on Minimum Wages proposes to establish a minimum wage from January 1, 2023 in the amount of 30,000 rubles per month.
This is about 200% of the artificially low subsistence minimum for the able-bodied population as a whole in the Russian Federation as stated in the document.
The initiative aims to ensure an acceptable standard of living for citizens of the Russian Federation in the face of rising inflation and declining incomes due to the imposition of sanctions against Russia.
standard amount
The Russian Central said yesterday that in the second half of July, For the first time, individuals became net buyers of foreign currency on the Moscow Stock Exchange. According to the Financial Market Risk Review of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
Over the month, the volume of net purchases increased 1.3 times – from 176.1 billion rubles in June to 237.1 billion rubles in July, a record amount of net purchases for this category of participants.
Foreign currencies were obtained from investors mainly through banks that made transfers to foreign accounts, At the same time, In July there was a $3 billion decrease in foreign currency bank account balances for individuals.
Inflation is slowing down
Data from the Federal Statistics Service Rosstat showed that annual inflation in Russia continued to slow in July thanks to a month-on-month decline in consumer prices amid stagnant demand. Which gives the central bank an excuse to keep cutting interest rates.
The data showed that annual inflation slowed in July to 15.10% from 15.90% in the previous month, while analysts’ expectations were to record 15.3%. The Russian Central Bank targets annual inflation at 4%.
On a monthly basis, The consumer price index fell 0.39 percent after falling 0.35 percent in June, in contrast to a 7.61% jump in March that was the largest month-on-month increase since January 1999.
Easing inflationary pressures allowed the central bank to cut its key interest rate by 150 basis points to 8 percent in July. The central bank said it would study the need for further cuts, given that the economic downturn is set to last longer than previously expected.
the ruble weakness
The central bank said that despite the overall growth in demand for the currency, There was no significant concentration of purchases by individual participants.
The Russian Central added that the foregoing pushed the ruble to weaken against the background of purchases by a wide range of participants, With imports recovering, we can expect another increase in market participants’ demand for foreign currencies.
The central bank said other banks were the biggest net buyers of foreign currency in the domestic market, which bought foreign currency in the amount of 319.6 billion rubles, Including for importers.
The central bank indicated an increase in the volume of foreign currency purchases by friendly non-residents, Primarily the banks of the European Economic Union, significantly.
ruble pricing
The Russian Central said yesterday that as of August 12, 2022, The Bank of Russia set the official exchange rate for the dollar at the level of 60.6229 rubles, It is 16.87 kopecks higher than the previous indicator.
