Russian Finance Ministry Halts Forex, Gold Purchases for 2022

Russian Finance Ministry Halts Forex, Gold Purchases for 2022
Arrangement of various world currencies including Chinese yuan, U.S. dollar, Euro, British pound, pictured on Jan. 25, 2011. Kacper Pempel/Illustration/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

MOSCOW—Russia’s finance ministry said on Thursday that it was halting purchases of foreign currency and gold for this year as part of a suspension of parts of its fiscal rule relating to the use of extra oil and gas revenues.

Under a rule adopted in 2017, Russia buys foreign currency when oil prices are high and sells when prices go below $44 per barrel, shielding the rouble from oil price swings.