MOSCOW | The Central Bank of Russia announced Friday to reauthorize from April 18 the sale of foreign currencies, suspended in early March in the country hit by unprecedented Western sanctions due to the conflict in Ukraine.
• Read also: The insolent strength of the ruble despite the rain of sanctions
• Read also: [EN DIRECT] 44th day of war in Ukraine: here are all the latest developments
Russian banks “will again be able to sell foreign currency in cash to citizens from April 18, 2022,” the Central Bank said in a statement, while specifying that only foreign currency received by banks from April 9 can be sold. .
This surprise announcement comes as the sale of foreign currencies was suspended in Russia on March 9 by the Central Bank until September 9, 2022.
Russians could, however, exchange their foreign currencies for rubles during this period.
The withdrawal of cash from foreign currency accounts opened in Russian banks was limited in early March to 10,000 US dollars until September 9, according to the decision of the Central Bank, the rest can only be withdrawn in rubles according to the current exchange rate.
This measure was also relaxed on Friday, with the Central Bank announcing that withdrawal can now be made not only in US dollars, but also in euros.
The drastic restrictions on foreign currency transactions were put in place in Russia as the ruble broke all-time lows against Western currencies.
But in recent weeks, the Russian currency has continued to strengthen and on Friday reached 71 rubles for the dollar, a record since autumn 2021, and 77 rubles / euro, its strongest level since June 2020.