Russia central bank: situation on currency market more stable than in 2014

Russia’s central bank said it would not intervene in currency markets following a sharp drop in the value of the ruble, playing down the impact on the currency of new US sanctions.

The sharp devaluation prompted market speculation that the central bank would start buying up the Russian currency to support its value, but the bank's deputy governor Ksenia Yudayeva said it had no plans to do so.

"The situation on the currency market is balanced," Yudayeva said at a financial conference in Moscow.

"We do not intervene in the market situation if there is simply volatility on the market or a sharp change in the rate, we intervene only if there are risks to financial stability," Reuters cited her as saying.

The deputy governor said the increased market volatility did not currently represent a risk to financial stability and that the situation was more stable than in 2014, when the United States first hit Russia with sanctions over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis.

She also added that the central bank has all the necessary tools to deal with market risks.