Balances at correspondent accounts reach record high

The balances at correspondent accounts of Russian commercial banks increased significantly as of the beginning of business today. This rise was 15.8bn rubles (about $497m) in Russia and 13.6bn rubles ($428m) in Moscow and the surrounding region. Experts called this rise the most significant since January 4, which was almost a month ago. As a result, the balances amounted to almost 92bn rubles ($2.89bn) in Russia and about 58bn rubles ($1.82bn) in Moscow as of January 30.

Analysts linked an increase in the volume of free ruble resources on the market to the policy of the Central Bank, which conducted large-scale ruble interventions for a rather long time already, thus supporting high ruble liquidity at domestic commercial banks.