The Central Bank reported the maximum volume of foreign exchange trading on the exchange since February 2022

The volume of foreign exchange trading on the exchange at the end of August reached 11 trillion rubles. This was the maximum value since February 2022 – then the trading volume amounted to 12.2 trillion rubles. This is stated in the “Review of Financial Markets” (.pdf) for August, published on the Central Bank website.

Systemically important credit institutions (SICs) remained the largest currency sellers in August. They are the main agents for the sale of foreign exchange earnings of exporters. The volume of foreign currency they sold amounted to 510 billion rubles, which is similar to the results of July. Non-financial companies – exporters and the Central Bank, as part of operations “to mirror investments from the National Welfare Fund,” sold foreign currency in the amount of 101 billion rubles.

The main buyers of currency on the exchange were banks that were not systemically important. Such organizations purchased it mainly for international transfers by importers. In total, during the month they purchased foreign currency for 591 billion rubles. Non-residents from friendly countries purchased foreign currency worth 54 billion rubles.

In August, exporters increased net sales by 4.1%, to $7.2 billion compared to $6.9 in July. As the Central Bank notes, the largest exporters increased sales in the second half of the month.

In mid-August, the exchange rate of the ruble against the US dollar and euro updated March 2022 lows. At the moment, the euro exceeded 110 rubles, the dollar – 100 rubles. Against this background, the Central Bank unscheduled raised the key rate to 12%. Media also reported that the government was discussing currency control measures.

About the situation with currencies – in the material “Kommersant” “Investors remembered the dollar”.

Olesya Pavlenko