Large balances at correspondent accounts promote dollar rise

The weighted average dollar rate with tomorrow settlements amounted to RUR30.4 at the opening of today's special dollar trading session, which was RUR0.04 higher than the official dollar rate set for August 27. Yesterday, the ruble eased back against the dollar too, dropping by RUR0.06.

Currency analysts from commercial banks believe that the dollar rose today because of a noticeable increase in ruble balances at the correspondent accounts of domestic banks The balances went up more than 13bn rubles (about $428m) in Russia and more than 10bn rubles (about $329m) in Moscow and the surrounding region. As a result, one-day ruble credit rates are about 7 percent now against 15 percent yesterday. This improved ruble liquidity of Russian banks led to more active dollar purchases and, as a result, to a rise in the dollar exchange rate.