Central Bank may sell part of its gold reserves

The Central Bank may sell a part of its gold reserves at the end of the year in order to compensate the monetary expansion that occurs in this period every year, Sergey Ignatyev, head of the Central Bank, declared at the conference devoted to the Finance Ministry's activity and its role in the social and economic development of Russia. According to him the Finance Ministry often transfers funds for budget enterprises without proper control. Ignatyev stressed that the ministry and the bank should take measures to prevent a sharp growth in inflation and the dollar exchange rate. He was quoted as saying that "daily contact on this issue should exist, so that we know about the revenues and expenses of the federal budget".