Dollar rate not to grow on Thursday if balances of correspondent accounts drop

According to experts, foreign currency market operators were confusedyesterday by a substantial drop in balances of correspondent accounts,therefore commercial banks started buying dollars at RUR31.56-31.57 fearingthat the ruble might get more expensive owing to tax payments. However, byyesterday evening the ruble started to get cheaper and its exchange rategrew. "This morning's trade session opened at around RUR31.59-31.60 perdollar. In the afternoon, though, the rubles began rising again andoperators started to fix profits. At present, at a tom trade session thedollar is fluctuating at around RUR31.5875-31.5925. But on the whole, thesituation on the market is fairly calm", experts stressed. The balances of correspondent accounts may decrease by RUR10-12m tomorrow,and therefore credit rates on the interbank credit market will grow,specialists pointed out. The dollar exchange rate is likely to fluctuatewithin the range of RUR31.55-31.56 at the unified trading session. "But themost interesting events will happen on the foreign currency market onFriday, especially because Monday is a day-off in the US, and much willdepend on the actions of the Russian Central Bank. If the Central Bankimplements its interventions on the foreign currency market, then thedollar rate will hardly post substantial growth. However, if the CentralBank does not show up on the market, the dollar rate may reach RUR31.70within the next week and can after that sink back to RUR31.65, while untilFriday the dollar rate will probably hover within the RUR31.57-31.60range", experts said..